


A Curious Tournament

by LunaLupin1999



Series: The Curious Tale of The Girl Who Wore Black and Yellow [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Arithmancy (Harry Potter), BAMF Nymphadora Tonks, Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Dancing, F/F, History of Magic Class (Harry Potter), Horcruxes, Hufflepuff, M/M, Party, Quidditch World Cup, Quilting, Welsh Remus Lupin, Yule Ball (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:40:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 32
Words: 70,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26614621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaLupin1999/pseuds/LunaLupin1999
Summary: Beth is finally happy, Sirius is free from Azkaban and her family is together again. She's looking forward to a quiet year at school, but then there are strangle people in hoods at the Quidditch World Cup, and the resurrection of an ancient deadly tournament. What are our group of young Hufflepuffs to do?
Relationships: Beth Potter/ Susan Bones, Cedric Diggory/Nymphadora Tonks, Justin Finch-Fletchley/Ernie Macmillan, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: The Curious Tale of The Girl Who Wore Black and Yellow [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1917853
Comments: 13
Kudos: 49





	1. Playing Catch Up

It was a very long drive home from London, and Beth found herself falling to asleep in the back of the car. 

She had only slept sporadically over the last week as she had been so worried about Sirius’ trail that she could hardly sleep.

That was all over now though, Sirius had been made a free man at last, and their little family were driving home to Pembrokeshire.

“Wake up sleepy head,” chuckled Sirius as they got back to the cottage.

“Hmmm?” she mumbled looking up at him slightly confused.

It was pitch black and gone midnight.

“We’re home Lilybeth,” said Sirius beaming as she got out of the car.

“Merlin,” sighed Sirius looking up at the cottage, “I haven’t been here in thirteen years, but the place hasn’t changed at all!”

“I almost expect Lyall and Hope to come out from the house. Hope would tell me that I’m too thin, and that she needed to put some weight on me and then Lyall would tell me about his latest case at work over a pot of tea.”

“I know what you mean Siri,” said Remus as he got the luggage out of the car.

But they all knew that neither Lyall nor Hope were going to come out of the house. They were both in the garden, buried next to each other under a young oak tree.

Sirius helped Beth carry her trunk upstairs and then Beth went through to Remus’ room in her pyjamas and dressing gown.

Beth stood in the doorway for a moment, Remus and Sirius were both sat up next to each other under the duvet, Remus looked so happy. He was smiling contently, and Sirius had his arm around him.

Beth felt as if she was disturbing a private moment and turned to go.

“You are not going anywhere young lady!” said Sirius shaking his head as she turned to go.

Beth turned back nervously.

“Am I in trouble?” she stammered.

“Of course, you’re not in trouble Cariad,” chuckled Remus.

“Come here you!” said Sirius holding his arms open for her.

Beth’s face split into a wild grin and she practically leapt onto the bed.

She snuggled in between them under the duvet. Sirius put his arm around her and it somehow felt so right.

“Right then Lilybeth,” said Sirius with a tone of the upmost importance, “I’ve been missing for twelve and a half years, I think I’ve got some catching up to do. I want you to tell me everything that you’ve been up to.”

“Why do you call me Lilybeth?” she giggled.

“I call you Lilybeth after the two most important women in the world to me,” Sirius explained.

“When you were a little baby your parents named you Elizabeth.”

“Elizabeth is a bit of a mouthful for a baby, so we all used to call you Beth,” said Remus kissing her on top of the head.

“All of us that is apart from Sirius over there.”

“I always liked to be original, and Elizabeth is very close to Lilybeth. Your mother’s name was Lily, so I always called you Lilybeth.”

“It was just a childish nickname really but it somehow stuck,” he chuckled.

“I can stop if you want.”

“No,” giggled Beth, “I like it.”

“Well that’s alright then isn’t it?” Sirius beamed.

“Now then, I’ve got twelve years of your life to be caught up on, what have I missed?”

“I don’t really know where to start,” she muttered.

“How about at the beginning?” he chuckled.

Beth looked over at Remus and they were both looking very nervous.

“Well I suppose now’s as good a time as any,” sighed Remus.

“Now’s as good a time as any for what Remi?” 

“To tell you about the Dursleys,” growled Remus.

“What?” asked Sirius.

“Who the hell are the Dursleys?”

“Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon,” mumbled Beth pulling at her dressing gown cord, not looking at either of them.

“Petunia,” muttered Sirius trying to think back, “that’s Lily’s sister isn’t it?”

“That old hag who wouldn’t come to the wedding, and always sent back Lily’s letters without even opening them?”

“The very same,” sighed Remus.

“What about them?”

“Dumbledore sent Beth to go and live with them after Lily and James died.”

“What?” stammered Sirius, “Why?”

“They were known magic haters!” he yelled, “they didn’t want anything to do with Lily and her family!”

“Why couldn’t she have gone somewhere else, anywhere else, here, the Longbottoms, the Weasleys, anyone!”

Beth clammed up slightly, she always hated it when anybody shouted.

“I know Siri, I know,” sighed Remus running his fingers through his hair.

“You don’t know what it was like though, people were angry, furious. The Deatheaters were looking everywhere for Voldemort, Dumbledore thought it would be safer to hide her with muggles, where they couldn’t find her.”

“Surely it couldn’t have been that bad,” muttered Sirius, “plenty of families would have taken her in.”

Remus bit his lip slightly.

“Do you remember the Lestranges and Barty Crouch Jr. being brought into Azkaban?”

Sirius nodded slightly in confusion.

“Do you know why they were brought in?”

“No, I thought they’d just caught a few more deatheaters.”

“They tracked down Frank and Alice, they were trying to find out information on Voldemort.”

“What happened?” muttered Sirius.

“They tortured them into insanity,” said Remus in barley above a whisper.

“No,” whispered Sirius shaking his head.

“Frank and Alice,” he mumbled.

“They’re not,” Sirius gulped slightly, “dead, are they?”

“No,” sighed Remus, “they’ve lost their minds, they’re in the permanent ward in St. Mungos.”

“What about Nev?” asked Sirius wanting to get the worst over with.

“Neville’s fine, he’s with Augusta.”

“So, Dumbledore thought it would be safer for our little girl to live with the muggles?”

“Yes,” nodded Remus, “but they weren’t.”

He stumbled for a moment.

“She wasn’t safe.”

“So, Dumbledore sent her to keep her safe from dark wizards and they found her anyway!” yelled Sirius.

“Not exactly no,” muttered Remus.

“What are you talking about Remus?” growled Sirius.

“Beth Cariad,” said Remus gently, “do you want to tell him?”

Beth nodded slightly and took a deep breath.

“Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, they weren’t the nicest of people to me.”

“Well that’s an understatement,” muttered Remus.

“Will one of you tell please tell me why Lilybeth is so terrified of her own family?”

“They didn’t really treat her as a daughter as such,” said Remus holding onto Beth like his life depended on it, “more of a live-in slave.”

“I’m sorry what did you just say Moony?” asked Sirius seriously hoping he was mishearing things.

“I had to do all the jobs, the cooking, the cleaning, the gardening, I had to earn my keep. I didn’t really mind though,” she shrugged.

“And I thought my childhood was bad, living with those parents of mine.”

“Moony,” said Sirius suspiciously, “you said she wasn’t safe, although that sounds like a living hell, it doesn’t sound dangerous.”

“That’s because you haven’t heard the worst of it yet Pads,” muttered Remus.

“Worse?” growled Sirius raising his eyebrows.

“Keep going little one,” said Remus giving her a kiss, “it’s alright.”

Beth nodded slightly and continued.

“They made me sleep in the cupboard under the stairs, and I wasn’t able to eat very much.”

“Is that why she’s so skinny?” 

“Yes,” nodded Remus gripping onto her shoulder.

“The cupboard under the stairs?” he whispered hardly believing it.

“Hmm,” muttered Remus.

“Well at least she’s alright now,” beamed Sirius giving her another hug.

“It gets worse,” said Remus.

“Worse?” moaned Sirius.

“Worse,” nodded Remus.

“Go on,” grumbled Sirius.

“The Dursleys didn’t like magic,” sighed Remus, “so her uncle tried to beat it out of her.”

“Beat it out of her?” mouthed Sirius wordlessly.

“Go on Cariad,” coaxed Remus gently.

“There were lots or rules with the Dursleys,” she muttered.

“Don’t ask questions, don’t talk to strangers, don’t talk to the other children, no,” Beth gulped a moment, “no freakishness.”

“Freakishness?”

“Freakishness,” nodded Remus, “they used to punish her for lots of things, mainly for accidental magic though.”

“Punish her?” said Sirius nervously.

“Uncle Vernon used to hurt me, if I did something wrong.”

“Hurt you?”

“He’d shake me usually, grip onto my arms and bruise them, but mainly he’d just throw me in my cupboard and then lock me in.”

Beth was shaking more than slightly now.

“It’s ok little one,” soother Remus pulling her in close and stroking her hair, “he can’t hurt you now.”

“I know,” she mumbled, “I know, but he still scares me.”

“It’s ok Cariad, you’re safe.”

“Hmmm.”

“If I ever get my hands on Dumbledore, I’m going to kill him.”

“No Siri you won’t,” said Remus firmly as he soothed Beth, “unless you want to end up back with the dementors.”

“Fine,” grumbled Sirius, “but I will be having some very strong words with him.”

“Message received and understood,” said Remus.

“You ok now little one?”

“Hmmm,” mumbled Beth as she snuggled back in between them.

“So if the Dursleys were such swine’s to our little girl, how did she end up here?”

“Well Beth’s only been living here three years,” said Remus kissing her lightly on the forehead, “everything changed when Beth got her Hogwarts letter.”

“Things had better get a lot better,” groaned Sirius.

“Well, I got my letter in the post, but I was confused, I didn’t know about magic, so I wrote back to Hogwarts and told them must be a mistake.”

“I’m sure they were delighted to get that letter!” said Sirius his face suddenly splitting into a wild grin.

“I went out to post the letter, but Uncle Vernon caught me on my way back in, he was fuming. He shouted at me for leaving without permission and then threw me in my cupboard.”

“The next thing I knew there was a knock at the front door. I woke up and heard arguing.”

“I thought I was in trouble again, but then I heard someone mention Hogwarts and that they’d got my letter.”

Sirius was ecstatic, his face had lit up.

“They looked upstairs, but they couldn’t find me, then they opened the door to the cupboard.”

“Please tell me it was McGonagall,” muttered Sirius excitedly, “please tell me it was McGonagall!”

“It was McGonagall,” nodded Remus and Beth.

“Yes!” yelled Sirius pumping his fist in the air, “justice at last!”

“Well she wasn’t very happy, she screamed at the Dursleys for a while and then told me to pack my things. She brought me to Hogwarts and informed Dumbledore of the situation and then Dumbledore told Remus to come and get me.”

“Remind me Remi,” chuckled Sirius, “to meet up with old Minnie and thank her!”

“So that brings us up to when you were nearly eleven doesn’t it little one?” giving her another quick kiss.

“She’s alright now though because we’re looking after her!”

“Have you been having any exciting adventures at school?”

“Too many,” sighed Beth.

“Sounds exciting!” exclaimed Sirius.

“So are you Gryffindor then?”

“No I’m a Hufflepuff,” shrugged Beth.

“Oh,” said Sirius somewhat disappointed, “as long as it’s not Slytherin.”

“I’m in the same house as my best friends Ernie and Susan.”

“You’re nearly fourteen right?” asked Sirius.

Beth nodded.

“You got a boyfriend?” he whispered conspiratorially.

Beth shook her head giggling.

“A beautiful girl like you, the lads should be lining up to ask you out.”

“Our Beth doesn’t like boys,” said Remus trying not to laugh.

“What do you mean?”

“She’s got a girlfriend,” chuckled Remus.

“What?” exclaimed Sirius, “tell me everything!”

“Well her names Susan,” giggled Beth, “Susan Bones. She’s fascinated with muggles and wants to work with them, she encourages me with my art and is always there with a hug when I need one.”

“And here was I thinking that was my job?” asked Remus giving her a tight hug.

“Don’t be silly!” giggled Beth.

“So whats your favourite subject?”

“Well you’re good at all of them aren’t you Cariad?”

“Really?” asked Sirius impressed.

“Top marks,” nodded Beth, “I came first in History of Magic.”

“Please don’t tell me History’s your favourite subject?” groaned Sirius.

Beth blushed slightly.  
“I still love you Lilybeth,” he beamed ruffling her hair.

“So, have you and your friends had any adventures?”

“Well I’ve fought Voldemort off twice.”

“You’ve what!” stammered Sirius.

“She’s making this up?” said Sirius laughing slightly.

“Right Moony?”

“Why else did you think my hairs going grey at thirty-four?” asked Remus.

“So Voldemort’s not dead then?”

“No but he’s not alive either,” explained Remus, “he’s sort of somewhere in the middle.”

“In first year, I had to fight him for the Philosopher’s Stone, he was on the back of Professor Quirrell’s head.”

“Who’s Quirrell?”

“Defence teacher number one,” said Remus.

“Right,” muttered Sirius as if fighting off Voldemort was a perfectly normal thing for an eleven-year-old to do.

“And then second year, he used a memory version of him younger self to reopen the Chamber of Secrets. He was petrifying muggleborns and blood traitors. I had to kill a Basilisk.”

“You fought a fucking Basilisk?” 

“Um yes,” muttered Beth worried that Sirius was going to get angry again.

“That’s so awesome!” 

“You’re awesome!”

“Um, thanks,” mumbled Beth.

“I think that’s most of it,” said Remus, “you’re all caught up.”

“Right then young lady,” said Sirius picking up Beth, “you’ve had enough excitement for one day, if we keep you up any later you’ll fall asleep on my shoulder.”

Sirius carried her through to her own bedroom and Remus tucked her in.

“Goodnight Cariad,” said Remus kissing her on the forehead.

“Night Uncle Remus.”

“Goodnight Lilybeth,” chuckled Sirius ruffling her hair slightly.

“Night Uncle Sirius.”

Remus and Sirius left the room, leaving Guinevere prowling back and forth in front of the open door.


	2. Family Meeting

Beth woke up the next morning and wondered why she was feeling quite so excited. Then she remembered, it was the first day of the holidays!

She leapt out of bed and ran down the corridor stopping outside Remus and Sirius’ room. She could hear the light muttering of a whispered conversation.

“Can’t we have just five more minutes Remi?” grumbled Sirius, “it’s only seven o’clock.”

Beth opened the door and pounced on the bed.

“Too late!” said Remus opening his eyes and sitting up.

“Good morning little one, we’re full of energy this morning, aren’t we?”

“Why are you so awake at this time in the morning?” asked Sirius with one eye open.

“Because I’m so excited to spend time with you both,” she giggled getting under the duvet between them.

“About that Lilybeth,” said Sirius carefully, “we need to talk.”

“Is there something wrong?” 

“No Cariad, there’s nothing wrong, we’ll all have a nice chat over breakfast alright?”

Beth bit her lip for a moment before nodding.

“Now go on, go and get up,” chuckled Sirius, “we’ll see you in ten minutes.”

Beth scrambled back out of the bed and went to go and get dressed, brush her teeth and hair.

By the time she got back downstairs, Remus and Sirius were already there at the table and Dobby was serving ham and cheese omelettes.

“Oh, my favourite!” exclaimed Beth, “thank you Dobby.”

“Yous is most welcome mistress Beth,” said Dobby giving her a small bow before sitting down for his own breakfast.

“Ok little one, there’s a few things we need to talk about,” said Remus.

“What’s up?” she shrugged as she dove into her breakfast.

“Well the first thing is, yesterday Remus and I went into St. Mungos.”

“There’s something wrong isn’t there?” she asked dropping her fork.

“No Beth everything’s fine,” assured Remus.

Beth bit her lip slightly trying not to cry.

“The thing is Lilybeth, Azkaban has taken it’s toll on me, physically and mentally.”

Beth nodded slightly.

“The healer says for my mind and body to heal properly, I have to go to a retreat.”

“Like a hospital?” gulped Beth.

“Not really no,” said Sirius, “it’ll just give me some time to recuperate, help me get better after Azkaban.”

“Ok,” she muttered, that still sounded an awful lot like a hospital, just a nice one.

“How long would it be for?”

“Two weeks,” sighed Sirius, “I have to leave tonight.”

“Why didn’t you tell me yesterday?”

“Because there was so much to talk about yesterday, I had twelve and a half years of your life to catch up on.”

“Ok,” muttered Beth pulling at the end of her plait.

“The thing is sweetheart,” struggled Remus, “it would help Sirius a lot if I could go with him.”

“You’re not ill too are you?” she stuttered.

“No Cariad, I’m not ill,” said Remus kissing her on the head, “I would be going to support Sirius, make it easier on him.”

“But where am I going to go?” she muttered.

“Well the Bones’ are busy at work getting ready for the World Cup, and the Macmillan’s have gone on holiday till the end of the month.”

“Oh,” said Beth pushing her food around her plate.

“I can look after myself,” she said looking up, “I’ll be fine.”

“We are not leaving you here to fend for yourself Lilybeth,” chuckled Sirius.

“The Weasley’s have offered to take you,” said Remus, “and the Diggorys.”

“The Weasleys is so busy, and Ron said Charlie and Bill were coming home this Summer, it will be even more chaotic.”

“You’ve got a point there,” chuckled Remus.

“Sweetheart, if you want to stay here, I can stay with you.”

“What about Sirius?”

“Looking after you little one is far more important than supporting me on my little holiday,” said Sirius.

“No, Remus should go with you.”

“What about the Diggory’s then?” suggested Remus.

“I like Cedric,” giggled Beth, “he’s like a big brother. Mr and Mrs Diggory are very nice too.”

“They are a nice family, and if you stay with them, you can visit the Weasley’s anytime you like, ok?”

“It’s just for two weeks?” she asked.

“Yes,” chuckled Remus, “now get back to your breakfast, we still have more things to discuss.”

Beth picked her fork back up and went back to her omelette.

“The next item on our family agenda is safety.”

“Are we going to be starting to have fire drills or something like at muggle school?”

“What’s a fire drill?” asked Dobby.

“A fire drill,” explained Beth, “is a safety drill that muggles have. Muggles have fire alarms in most homes and buildings, that go off when there’s smoke, so people have time to get out of the building.”

“Every couple of months, muggles have what they call a fire drill. They set off the alarms on purpose for a practise, so that everyone can practise leaving the building safely and quickly, and so they know what to do if there’s a real fire.”

“Huh,” said Sirius clearly impressed.

“Well we’re not getting a fire alarm, but we might get a death eater alarm if we can figure that out, or at least practise emergency escapes.”

“Emergency escapes?” gasped Beth.

“To safe houses like the Bones’ or the Weasleys,” explained Remus, “we’d only be practising, just in case someone does come looking for us.”

“So is that what you mean by safety?” asked Beth.

“Not exactly no,” sighed Sirius.

Remus was staring down at his plate.

“We’re going to have to move,” sighed Sirius putting his arm around Remus.

“Why?” asked Beth.

“Why do we have to move! I like it here it’s the only home I’ve ever had!”

“I know Beth,” muttered Remus.

“We can’t move!” she yelled getting up from the table.

“Grandpa’s here!” there were now tears running down her cheeks as she yelled.

“I’m not moving!”

Beth rushed from the room and ran upstairs to throw herself down on the bed.

There was a light knocking on the door as she sobbed into her pillows.

“Go away!” she sobbed, “I’m staying here.”

“Cariad,” sighed Remus, “please open the door.”

There was no answer.

“I’m going in,” muttered Sirius shaking his head and turning the handle.

“Watch out for the!”

But it was too late, Sirius had got a kneazle to the face. Gwen always attacked anyone who came into Beth’s room without permission.

“Get this thing off me!” spluttered Sirius trying to fight Guinevere.

“Guinevere!” said Remus firmly picking her off Sirius, “no!”

“And that is why,” said Remus as he tried to soothe a frantic cat, “you do not come in to Beth’s room without permission.”

“What is that thing?” asked Sirius rubbing at the claw marks all over his face.

“That is our resident security kneazle,” chuckled Remus sitting down on top of the bed.

“Gwen’s not moving either!” said Beth into her pillows.

“Don’t worry Cariad, wherever you go, Gwen goes.”

“And we’re staying here!” said Beth firmly.

“Ah!” Sirius interjected.

Remus gave Sirius a meaningful look.

“Siri,” said Remus gently, “you may have talked me round last night, but Beth gets a say in this too.”

“She is a part of her family, so she gets a say in whether we move or not.”

“Really?” asked Beth hopefully lifting her head off the pillows.

“Of course little one,” said Remus giving her a kiss, “but you also need to hear our side of the argument, why we need to move.”

Beth looked uncertain for a moment as she sat up properly.

“Come here you,” chuckled Sirius holding his arms out for her.

Beth smiled as she settled in properly between Remus and Sirius and they all got comfortable on the bed.

“Right then,” sighed Sirius, “you can kick and scream all you like later, but I would like to at least listen to why I think we should all move.”

“Alright,” grumbled Beth.

“Ok then Cariad, after you went to bed last night, Sirius and I stayed up and talked for a little while. Although he was very impressed with you killing that Basilisk, Sirius was more than a little shocked to find out that you had fought Voldemort another two times.”

“I’m worried that Voldemort might track us down here to try and kill you,” said Sirius.

“But the house is well protected,” shrugged Beth, “Remus and Grandpa only redid the protections last year.”

“People know where we live, the location is too well known,” sighed Remus, “if people were trying to look for us, it wouldn’t take them long.”

“But he hasn’t even got a body,” stammered Beth, “he’s just a spirit, less than a ghost, he can’t hurt me.”

“I think we both know Cariad, that that is a matter of time.”

“Wouldn’t he be able to track us down if we more though?” asked Beth confused.

“Not if we move to where I’m thinking of,” muttered Sirius.

“Where’s that?” she asked looking up at him.

“My old family home, number 12 Grimmauld Place, it’s under the fidelius charm like the Potter House was.”

“But that’s not fool proof, the charm can break,” she stammered.

“I know that, but I’m the secret keeper, and I’m hardly going to tell any deatheaters where we’re living am I?”

“No,” shrugged Beth.

“So, are we moving then?” asked Remus looking from Sirius to Remus.

“When would we have to move?” Beth whispered.

“Well, we’re going to be going away for a fortnight,” said Sirius, “but Dobby is going to be busy doing all the packing whilst we’re gone.”

“Are you trying to tell me, we won’t be coming back?” she mumbled tears in her eyes.

“We will be coming back Cariad,” said Remus giving her a big hug, “we’ll all have one last night here together before we move up to London, and after Voldemort has been defeated once and for all, we’ll move back.”

“You promise?”

“I promise!” nodded Remus.

“Ok then,” muttered Beth, “we can move.”

“That’s my girl!” beamed Sirius pulling her in for a hug.

“Now then little one, we’ve all got lots to do today, do you want Dobby’s help with your packing for the Diggory’s?”

“If he doesn’t mind,” shrugged Beth.

“I’ve got to go call the Diggory’s,” said Remus getting off the bed, “I’ll tell them we’ll drop you off about six.”

Beth got off the bed and Guinevere settled down on top of the quilt for her nap.

She sighed slightly and opened her school trunk, which she still hadn’t unpacked yet.

“Hello mistress Beth,” squeaked Dobby, “can I help you with packing?”

“Hmmm,” muttered Beth as she started to unpack her school things.

“Let Dobby do that.”

Dobby clicked his fingers and all the contents from the trunk started flying around the room and unpacked itself neatly, the clothes going back into the wardrobe, refolded, the books going on to the bookshelf.

“Wow!” exclaimed Beth as she watched things fly around the room, “thank you Dobby!”

“Right,” she muttered, “we need to pack for the Diggory’s and box the rest of this up.”

Beth started off by putting her summer clothes at the bottom of her trunk including her jeans, shorts, some of her lighter jumpers and t-shirts.

She thought that she might as well get all her holiday homework done whilst she was at the Diggory’s, so she packed all her textbooks.

She also packed a couple of sketchbooks, her pencils and paints.

She put a couple of her favourite books in on top including the copy of Little Women Susan had given her for her last birthday, and Anne of Green Gables which she was working on illustrating.

After she had finished packing she looked around the room, there was still a lot of assorted things that had to be packed away.

Sirius had brought in several cardboard boxes.

“It’ll be easier to unpack at the new house if we label them,” said Beth getting out a pen.

“Mistress Beth is very logical,” nodded Dobby.

Beth labelled the first box art supplies, which she loaded all her sketchbooks, pencils and paints into.

Then she labelled another box winter clothes, which she put her winter coat, and thicker jumpers into, apart from the one that had once been Remus’, that was in her trunk, she took it everywhere because the scent of the chocolate on the jumper reminded her of him.

Then there was another box labelled notebooks into which Beth piled dozens of notebooks from all her subjects over the last three years, including the History notes that Susan always made for her.

Then there was another box labelled books where she loaded all her muggle novels.

There were two boxes labelled textbooks, and another labelled school supplies. The History reference books Percy had given her for her last birthday had to have a box all of its own.

The last box was labelled miscellaneous and contained all Beth’s odds and ends including photograph albums and a flower crown Aunty Amelia had given Beth for her birthday a few years ago.

“I think that’s everything,” muttered Beth as they taped up the last box.

They had been in there all day, and it was now nearly six o’clock.

“You do realise you two didn’t have to pack up the whole room today?” asked Sirius from the doorway.

“Yes,” nodded Beth, “but we’d made a start, and now it’s done.”

“And a good thing too Cariad,” said Remus as he helped her carry the trunk down the stairs, “now there’s one less room to be packed up.”

Remus and Beth both walked out to the apparition boundary with the trunk.

“I’ll see you in a fortnight ok Lilybeth?” 

Beth nodded.

“Come here you,” he chuckled giving her a huge hug.

“I love you Uncle Sirius,” she whispered.

“Come on Cariad,” said Remus, “I won’t be long Siri.”

Beth and Remus both held onto one end of the trunk each as the dissapparated to the Diggory’s.

“Remus!” roared Mr Diggory who was standing outside the house.

“Well done on Sirius,” said Mr Diggory patting Remus on the back.

“We’re just happy to be back together again, but Siri needs some time to get better.”

“I can’t blame him, twelve years with those ruddy dementors,” said Mr Diggory shaking his head. “I couldn’t stand it that’s for sure.”

“Hello there young Beth,” beamed Mr Diggory taking her half of the trunk from her.

“Unless I’m very much mistaken Cels has been making a chocolate cake in that kitchen all afternoon.”

“Chocolate cake!” breathed Beth and Remus looking over at each other their eyes lit up.

“Are you absolutely sure she’s not your biological child Remus?” chuckled Mr Diggory.

“Bye Cariad, I’ll see you in a fortnight.”

“Bye Uncle Remus,” she said giving him a huge hug before skipping into the house.

“Hello Mrs Diggory!” said Beth as she ran into the kitchen.

“Hello Beth, dear,” said Mrs Diggory pulling Beth in for a huge hug.

“Thank you for having me at such short notice.”

“Anytime dear,” she beamed letting go off her.

“Now then, why don’t you go get cleaned up for dinner, and go and get Cedric will you?”

“Yes Mrs Diggory,” said Beth skipping from the kitchen and up to Cedric’s room.

Cedric was lying on top of his bed flicking through a Quidditch magazine.

“Hi Ced,” said Beth jumping up on the bed next to him.

“Hey Beth,” chuckled Cedric ruffling her hair slightly.

“Your mum says dinners ready.”

Cedric checked his watch slightly.

“Blimey, is it that late already?” he exclaimed.

“No wonder I’m so hungry.”

He leapt down from the bed and they both rushed down for dinner.

“Well I see you two are hungry!” chortled Mr Diggory as Beth and Cedric came sprinting into the room.

“Ced, can you help me take Beth’s trunk up to her room after dinner?”

“Sure,” shrugged Cedric sitting down next to Mr Diggory.

“I wasn’t sure what you liked dear,” said Mrs Diggory bringing over a steaming dish, “but as Amos says, everybody loves Shepherd’s pie.”

“I do like shepherd’s pie,” giggled Beth as she Cedric passed her a huge plate of food.

“So if you’re going to be here for two weeks what you going to get up to young lady?”

“I’ve brought all my homework,” said Beth as she ate her dinner.

“Swat!” said Cedric coughing exaggeratedly.

“Coming from Mr prefect, school Quidditch star and head boy in training.”

“Next thing I know you’ll be comparing me to Percy like Fred and George do!”

“You’re nothing like Percy,” said Beth looking over at Cedric.

“Percy can’t fly.”

“He is also a swat,” chuckled Cedric, “which I am not.”

“Well if you’re not a swat, you must be the golden boy Ced, I swear you’re perfect.”

“Try arguing with that one son,” chortled Mr Diggory.

After the shepherd’s pie, Mrs Diggory brought out a huge cake.

“Double chocolate fudge,” groaned Cedric.

“I thought you were full Ced,” giggled Beth.

“A boy is never to full for his mother’s chocolate cake,” beamed Mrs Diggory passing Cedric a large slice.

“Cake dear?” 

“Yes please!” beamed Beth her eyes as large as saucers.

Beth took her first bite of the sumptuous chocolate cake and closed her eyes in utter bliss.

“This is the best cake I’ve ever tasted!” she moaned.

“Could you teach me?”

“Of course Beth,” chuckled Mrs Diggory.

“Thank you again for having me,” beamed Beth.

“It’s our pleasure Beth dear,” said Mrs Diggory.

“Besides,” said Mr Diggory looking towards his son, “it’s nice to hear somebody talk about something that isn’t Quidditch.”

Cedric helped Mr Diggory to carry Beth’s trunk up to her room.

“There’s a different blanket from last time,” muttered Beth looking at the patchwork quilt on top of her bed.

“Mum’s always making them,” shrugged Cedric.

“It’s beautiful,” sighed Beth looking at the gorgeous colours.

The quilt was made up of tiny triangles, which were all the different colours of the rainbow.

“I’m glad you like it dear,” said Mrs Diggory as she brought Beth in some towels.

Beth unpacked her trunk and pulled on her pyjamas before heading through to Cedric’s room.

“Hey kid!” said Cedric as she came in.

“Hi Cedric,” muttered Beth sitting down next to him.

“If you’ve got no homework, what are going to do this Summer?”

“Listen to Quidditch on the wireless, play Quidditch with the Weasleys, read about Quidditch.”

“I might be starting to get Dad’s point,” he muttered.

“I’ve bored you to sleep just talking about it!” he chuckled.

“I’m not tired,” she lied.

Cedric looked at her his eyebrows raised.

“Oh alright, maybe I am,” she muttered.

Cedric smirked slightly as she got off the bed and went through to her own room.

Guinevere had been getting settled in the bedroom and took up her nightly patrol duty as Beth got into bed.

“Goodnight dear,” whispered Mrs Diggory getting the light.


	3. In Which Beth Realises that Even Cedric Isn't Perfect

Beth was sat at the kitchen table finishing off the last of her homework, she’d only been at the Diggory’s two days, but it hadn’t taken her as long as she thought it would to finish off her homework.

Cedric came traipsing into the kitchen soaking wet.

“What happened to you?” asked Beth as she looked up.

Cedric was dripping water all over the kitchen floor.

“Thunderstorm,” he grumbled, “started on the way home.”

“For Merlins sake Cedric!” screamed Mrs Diggory her hands on her hips.

“Stop dripping muddy water all over my clean kitchen!”

“Sorry mum,” muttered Cedric staring down at his shoes.

“Go and get those wet things off,” she muttered shaking her head, “go on get upstairs!”

“Yes mum,” said Cedric scampering from the kitchen.

Beth’s mouth was dropped open in shock as Cedric went upstairs to go and take a bath.

“I’ve never seen anyone talk to Cedric like that!” she exclaimed.

“Nobody is perfect dear,” chuckled Mrs Diggory, “not even Cedric.”

Mrs Diggory got out a mop to start on the floor.

“Let me get that,” said Beth taking the mop.

“Oh no really dear!” Mrs Diggory tried to interject.

“No I want to help,” said Beth mopping the floor vigorously.

“Well if you insist,” said Mrs Diggory shaking her head in disbelief.

After she’d mopped the floor, she packed away her History books and essay.

“You’ve finished those fast,” said Mrs Diggory.

“I like getting my work done first so I can enjoy myself later.”

“That’s a very good rule to live by Beth, now why don’t you go get yourself cleaned up for supper.”

“Yes Mrs Diggory,” said Beth skipping back upstairs to go and put her books away.

“It’s time for dinner Ced!” Beth called as she went past his room.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” he grumbled.

Cedric came out of his room with tousled only half dry hair.

Cedric was wearing his Hufflepuff Quidditch jersey with a pair of jeans.

“Any ideas what’s for dinner Beth?”

“How should I know?”

“You’ve been working at the kitchen table all afternoon; you must have some idea!”

“I might have seen your mum making a chicken and mushroom pie.”

“Potato topping!” he asked enthusiastically.

“I think so,” shrugged Beth.

But Cedric was already gone, he had sprinted all the way downstairs.

By the time Beth got down to the kitchen Cedric was trying to dive into his dinner.

“I hope that dinner tastes as good as it looks,” said Mr Diggory as he sat down next to Cedric.

“Be fair Dad, Mum’s cooking always tastes good,” said Cedric through a mouthful of food.

“My cooking is clearly so good, that my son forgets his manners,” said Mrs Diggory giving him a meaningful look.

“Sorry Mum,” chuckled Cedric having swallowed his food.

“It is wonderful food Mrs Diggory,” agreed Beth.

“Thank you dear.”

After dinner Cedric was in the sitting room with Mr Diggory. 

Cedric was fiddling with an old wireless, trying to find a station.

“Got you!” exclaimed Cedric beaming as he found the right station.

“Who’s playing tonight Ced?” asked Mr Diggory leaning back on the sofa and closing his eyes.

“Kenmare Kestrals against Puddlemere United,” said Cedric curling up by the fire next to the wireless.

“I cant wait for the end of the month,” muttered Cedric.

“Why?”

“The World Cup,” nodded Cedric, “starts on the first of July.”

“This is going to be the best Summer ever,” beamed Cedric, “no homework, and the Quidditch World Cup!”

“You deserve a break Ced after all your work you’ve put in on your exams,” chortled Mr Diggory.

“It looks like it’s going to be a cold night Amos, I don’t think that rains going to let off. I’m going to go get some extra blankets out.”

“I’ll help!” said Beth hoping up from by the fire next to Cedric.

Mrs Diggory and Beth went upstairs, and Mrs Diggory was going through the linen cupboard.

The cupboard was full of dozens and dozens of quilts, all of them were different colours. Some had tiny squares, some had huge squares, some had stripes, others had triangles like the one on Beth’s bed.

“Here you are dear,” said Mrs Diggory passing Beth three or four large quilts.

They put a quilt on the bed in Mr and Mrs Diggory’s room and then in Cedrics.

Then they put a quilt which was made of soft pinks and lilacs on Beth’s bed. 

Beth stroked one of the fabrics which was velvet.

“They’re so soft,” she muttered.

“And so beautiful!”

“Hmmm,” nodded Mrs Diggory as they left the room.

They all headed back down to the sitting room and Beth knelt down by Cedric.

“Mrs Diggory, why is the quilt in my room so pretty?”

“What do you mean Beth?” she chuckled.

“Well it looks like it was made for a child, but Cedric would never have had a pink and purple quilt.”

There was an awkward silence in the room and Cedric looked over to his mum nervously who looked like she was close to tears.

“I’m sorry,” exclaimed Beth, “I didn’t mean to upset you!”

“No its quite all right Beth,” said Mr Diggory putting an arm around his wife, “it’s a perfectly natural question.”

“Cels and I tried a long time before we had Cedric,” sighed Mr Diggory, “Celia had several miscarriages.”

“We had always wanted a big family with lots of children,” said Mrs Diggory, “so whenever I was pregnant, I’d make quilts for the babies. I’ve always loved sewing, but I did it even more when I was expecting.”

“One time,” said Mrs Diggory as she started to cry, “the last one before Cedric, I was sure would be a girl, I just had a feeling, it was a still born, she was so tiny, so beautiful.”

“But then only a year later, we had Cedric,” explained Mr Diggory, “we planned to have such a big family, but when we were blessed with our Ced it was the happiest day of our lives.”

“I still sometimes think about that little girl though,” muttered Mrs Diggory tears streaming down her cheeks, “the daughter I never had.”

“Mrs Diggory,” said Beth nervously getting up from in front of the fire and sitting down next to Mrs Diggory.

“You’ve always wanted a daughter, but I can’t remember my Mum. I know you’re not really my Mum, but you’re the closest thing I’ve ever had to one.”

“And you are the most wonderful daughter a mother could dream of,” sobbed Mrs Diggory holding her in close.

Cedric shook his head chuckling slightly as he went back to listening to his match.

“Well if I have to have a little sister, I guess you’re not too bad Beth.”


	4. A Wet Week

Beth woke up snuggled underneath her quilts and duvet, and Guinevere was purring contently next to her.

“Good morning Queen Gwen,” giggled Beth as Guinevere licked her face.

“Shall we go see if Cedric’s up?”

“Meow!” said Guinevere nodding her head and jumping off the bed.

Beth giggled and pulled on her dressing gown as they crept through to Cedric’s room.

Cedric’s door was already open, and he was reading a magazine on top of his bed.

“Do I hear giggling?” called Cedric.

“Morning Ced,” giggled Beth coming into his room and flopping down on the bed.

“Morning little sis,” he chuckled.

Guinevere hopped up onto Cedric’s bed and sniffed him curiously.

She then licked his hand.

“Hey there cat, you’re a beauty aren’t you, as white as snow.”

“She may be pretty, but she’s also dangerous, she attacked Sirius’ face the other day.”

“Why?” chuckled Cedric.

“My door was shut, and Sirius came in without permission.”

“Remind me to never do that will you,” said Cedric.

“Breakfast!” called Celia up the stairs.

“Pancakes!” beamed Cedric as he sniffed the air.

Cedric rushed down the stairs, Beth following him at a slower pace.

“Morning Ced, hi Beth,” said Amos as the paper arrived.

“Good morning Uncle Amos,” said Beth giving him a quick hug before sitting down next to Cedric.

“What are you two going to be getting up to today?”

“I’m going to go flying at the Weasley’s,” said Cedric.

“Oh no you’re not Cedric,” said Celia shaking her head as she brought over four plates of pancakes.

“Why not?” asked Cedric looking up from his breakfast.

“Because, it hasn’t stopped raining since yesterday, it’s chucking it down.”

“And according to the paper,” said Amos, “it’s not going to let off for the rest of the week.”

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me!” groaned Cedric, “no flying!”

“Cedric,” said Beth an idea coming into her head, “you want to keep the Quidditch Cup don’t you?”

“Course,” muttered Cedric, “how are we going to win if I cant practise?”

“Isnt the theory just as important as the practise?”

“You’re right Beth,” beamed Cedric.

Cedric rushed upstairs and came back downstairs a few minutes later with several huge books labelled Quidditch theory.

“Do you think I might get made Captain?” asked Cedric as he flicked through the book.

“I don’t see who else they’d pick,” shrugged Beth.

Celia came into the sitting room a few minutes later with a quilting magazine.

“Starting a new project Mum?” asked Cedric.

“Well I finished that last quilt last week and a rainy day is always a good time to pick out a new project.”

“Can I help?”

“Of course, dear,” said Celia patting the place next to her on the sofa.

“Aunty Celia, how many quilts have you made?”

“Too many to count,” chuckled Cedric.

“I give some away, and some are too threadbare, and they’ve had to be thrown away.”

“When did you learn how to sew?”

“When I was about your age,” said Celia, “my mother was a muggle, so she couldn’t teach me magic, but she taught me something else instead, she taught me how to sew and make quilts.”

“Could you teach me?”

“Of course dear!” beamed Celia getting up from the sofa.

“If she didn’t love you before, she really does now,” muttered Cedric.

Beth threw a pillow at him which hit him on the head.

“Thanks sis,” chuckled Cedric propping himself up on the pillow.

Celia came back into the room with her workbasket which was full of scrap pieces of material.

“The first thing you need to learn Beth, it how to sew two pieces of material together.”

Celia passed Beth a needle and thread and showed her how to sew the two squares together using a backstitch.

“Tiny stitches dear, the smaller the stitches, the stronger they are.”

“Ok,” nodded Beth trying her hardest to replicate Celia’s stitches.

It took a lot of practise, but by the end of the morning Beth had managed to master a backstitch, her stiches were almost as small and perfect as Celia’s.

“Would you like to make your own quilt dear?” asked Celia getting her pattern book back out.

“Really?”

“Well it would take a lot of work, but I think we can manage between us.”

“Oh thank you!” said Beth giving her a huge hug, “that would be wonderful!”

“What kind of quilt would you like?”

“The ones with the triangles are really cool, they look like tiny windmills.”

“They are beautiful aren’t they,” agreed Celia.

“You two are going to the quilt emporium, aren’t you?” asked Cedric looking up from his book.

“Quilt emporium?” asked Beth.

“There’s a muggle shop, it’s in the village, it’s an old house, but every single room is full to bursting with quilting fabric,” explained Cedric.

“But I don’t have any money with me,” muttered Beth.

“That’s where you’re wrong dear,” chuckled Celia, “your Uncle Remus left some money muggle money with me in case you wanted to go shopping.”

“It was probably meant for clothes shopping, girls’ day out or something,” groaned Cedric, “I don’t know which ones worse, clothes shopping or quilt shopping.”

“No one is making you do either Cedric,” pointed out Celia.

“You can stay here and grumble if you like, or you can come with us.”

“I guess it could be kind of fun,” shrugged Cedric.

“Well go and get your shoes and coats on, both of you.”

Beth rushed upstairs and pulled on her raincoat and wellie boots.

“Mum’s right,” said Cedric as they headed out of the house, into a downpour of rain, “I wouldn’t want to go flying in this, and the Weasley’s live at the top of the hill, I’d be more mud than person by the time I got back.”

Celia came out with an umbrella which covered all three of them and they all walked into the village of Ottery St. Catchpole, Beth literally bouncing with excitement.

The village was full of shops, some magical some muggle, but they all looked like muggle shops from the outside. 

They stopped outside what looked like a large house on the edge of the village. It had a large sign in the window reading the Devonshire Quilting Circle.

“Don’t forget Ced, no mention of Quidditch in there, it’s a muggle shop.”

“I know Mum I know,” muttered Cedric shaking his head as they walked into the shop.

A bell rang as they opened the door.

“Good afternoon Mrs Diggory!” said a kind looking woman from behind the desk.

“And you’ve brought Cedric I see?”

“Hello Mrs Smith,” beamed Cedric taking off his wet coat.

“What brings in you in today then, it must be something important to bring yourself out in such terrible weather.”

“Beth here wants to learn how to quilt, we need to buy material for her first ever project.”

“Ah passing on the wisdom are you Mrs Diggory?”

“The first thing you need to do is to figure out what size you’d like young lady.”

Beth bit her lip for a moment as she thought.

“Would you like a single or a double bed sized quilt dear?” 

“If I make a double, I can snuggle up more. Also it means there will be more to share with Susan or Remus.”

“Good thinking Beth,” nodded Cedric, “double it is.”

“Well then, you probably want a 78 by 78 inches,” said Mrs Smith getting out a pencil and paper.

“We could round it up,” suggested Mrs Celia, “80 by 80?”

“That could work,” nodded Mrs Smith, “border?”

“Two and a half inches all round?”

“That leaves you with 75 by 75.”

“Perfect,” nodded Celia.

“Did any of that make any sense to you?” whispered Beth.

“No clue,” shrugged Cedric.

“You’re going to be needing a lot of material Mrs Diggory, binding, backing, border and the material for the squares themselves.”

“How big do you want the squares Beth?”

“Um not too big I suppose, but not tiny.”

“Do you want squares or half squares?” asked Mrs Smith.

“Or she said earlier she wanted half squares.”

“Five-inch squares?” suggested Mrs Smith.

“Perfect,” said Celia.

“How many half squares do we need though for a 75 inch square when you take out the border?” muttered Mrs Smith getting her pencil back out.

“225,” said Beth quickly.

“That’s correct,” muttered Mrs Smith smiling at her.

“Why don’t you go figure out what materials you’d like whilst I figure out the rest of these measurements.”

“Do you want to measure out the wadding as well?”

“Oh yes of course we’ll be needing that.”

“What’s wadding?”  
“It goes in the middle of the quilt and makes it warm,” explained Celia as Mrs Smith lifted down a large roll of fluffy wadding.

“If my calculations are correct, we are going to need to pick out 22 different fabrics.”

“Wow that’s a lot!” exclaimed Beth.

“Are you sure they’ll have that many fabrics?”

“They’ve got hundreds Beth,” chuckled Cedric.

“Why do we need so many?”

“Well, you need one fabric for the border, which goes around the half squares, it’s a bit like a picture frame. Then you need the backing, that’s the one you need the most of, the whole of the back of the quilt is one material. Then you need the binding, the binding is what is used for sewing the back and the front together.”

“But that’s only three, what are the other nineteen for?”

“They are for your half squares, you don’t have to get nineteen different fabrics but you can get up to nineteen.”

“Shall we get started on picking them out then?” asked Cedric.

The front room had been filled with mostly the wadding and sample quilts, as well as the till and the table for measuring and cutting the material, then they went through to the next room.

It was only a small room but all four walls were filled with shelves, each shelf had a different bolt of material. Next to each bolt was the pre cut material. A lot of the fabric in the first room was the same pattern but in various colours, they all had gold moons and stars on the fabric but on different coloured backgrounds, some were on deep purple, others dark or light blue, one was even on a pale grey.

“What are these?” asked Beth picking up one of the pre cut pieces of material.

“Those are fat quarters dear,” said Celia, “they are what are used for samples to test out different colours, and also used for the half squares. Each of those fat quarters will give you twelve five inch squares.”

“Do you want any particular colour scheme for your blanket, or just a kind of pick and mix of what fabrics and colours you like?”

“The second one!” beamed Beth.

“I think I went a bit crazy on my first quilt too, but that was kind of the fun of it,” chuckled Celia.

“I like this one!” said passing down a fat quarter that was a pale grey blue with gold moons and stars.

“We’ll keep it mind for now, but unless you find anything you prefer, I think this could make a very nice backing. With the backing, you want a bit of pattern, but not too much.”

Beth took the fat quarter of the grey blue fabric with the moons and stars and moved through to the next room.

“Oh I like this room!” said Cedric who was starting to enjoy himself.

This room was full of striped fabrics, on a gradient, some of the fabrics went from dark navy blue, through to sky blue, others were in different shades of pink. They were all the same pattern but different colours.

Beth eventually chose one fat quarter that was rainbow striped, another that was different shades of pink, and one last one that was purples.

“Four down, eighteen to go,” chuckled Cedric as he took the fat quarters from Beth and helped her reach the higher shelves.

“This is the best room so far!” exclaimed Beth a few rooms later.

This was larger than the other rooms and full to bursting with flower fabrics. 

Some of the fabrics was huge flowers in the middle that got darker as they spiralled out from the centre, Beth picked out two of those, one in bright yellow and another bright blue.

Some of the other squares had a white background with tiny flowers on them like daisies, she got one with tiny gold and silver flowers, and another with pale pink and lilac.

“Snowflakes!” exclaimed Beth picking up a deep purple fat quarter with tiny silver snowflakes. 

They ended up getting two of those, one in purple, the other navy blue. In the same room they had the same pattern but with tiny gold stars, she got the star fabric with a soft rose pink and also a sky-blue background.

“Do you want to head upstairs now Beth?” 

“There’s an upstairs!” exclaimed Beth.

“Of course there’s a ruddy upstairs!” chuckled Cedric.

They headed upstairs where the more unusual fabrics were kept.

“This is the novelty room,” explained Celia, “its where they keep the children’s fabrics.”

“These are gorgeous,” said Beth picking up a piece of fabric covered in tiny fairies.

“My Mum used to read me those books, they’re called flower fairies,” explained Celia.

“They could actually work for the border if you like,’ muttered Celia.

“Perfect,” said Beth passing her a sample of the one she wanted for later.

There was one fabric with the Disney fabrics covered in gold roses.

“I think this is a beauty and the beast fabric,” explained Beth passing the fat quarter to Cedric.

“Looks perfectly normal to me,” shrugged Cedric.

She also picked out one that was pale grey with unicorns, and two different fabrics with rainbows, and one with tiny butterflies. 

“You only need five more now Beth,” said Celia.

“Thank Merlin,” muttered Cedric, who was never going to admit how much fun he was having.

One of the next rooms they went into was full of different animals.

“Badgers!” chuckled Beth picking up a fat quarter on which had a light yellow background and had badgers playing on it.

“I think we should pick out some more Hufflepuff themed fabrics,” chuckled Cedric.

“I do like yellow,” agreed Beth.

They found a room that seemed to be filled with yellow fabrics, Beth picked out one which was bright yellow with tiny black polka dots, and another fabric that was charcoal grey with bright gold swirls. 

“There was a yellow striped fabric in that other room downstairs,” suggested Celia.

“We only need one more now,” said Beth as she passed the yellow striped fabric to Cedric.

Cedric was now carrying a large tower of material, they had picked twenty one fabrics already.

“With the binding you want something that ties the border and the backing together, but not too much pattern,” explained Celia.

“Should this do?” asked Beth passing down a pale silver fat quarter.

“Perfect,” beamed Celia.

They took the different fabrics back through to the front room.

“Well you three have been busy,” chuckled Mrs Smith.

“I’ve figured out all the measurements, if you can just show me which fabrics you want for the backing, the border and the binding I can get them cut for you.”

“Do you remember which ones you want Beth dear?”

“Um the silver for the binding,” said Beth fishing the right materials out, “the moons and stars for the backing, and then the flower fairies for the border.”

Mrs Smith went to go and get the right bolts of fabric and cut the right amounts for those three and then Celia helped her pack and fold away all the other fabrics carefully.

They paid for all the fabric and then Cedric took the two huge bags bulging full of fabric.

The rain had left off a bit, but not much, so Celia put a quick spell on the bags so the fabrics wouldn’t get wet.

“Would you look at the time!” exclaimed Celia as they got back to the house.

It was already gone five o’clock and Amos would be home from work in an hour.

“Beth dear, if you and Cedric would put the bags in the sitting room and then help me with the dinner.”

Beth sat down at the kitchen table and rolled mincemeat into meatballs whilst Celia got started on the sauce.

By the time Amos got home from work, they had finished making spaghetti and meatballs.

“What did you three get up to today then?” asked Amos as they all ate their dinner.

“I’m going to teach Beth how to quilt,” said Celia.

“We went around this huge shop, it was bigger than a house!”

“Why do I have strange feeling Cedric that we might be getting a visit from your grandmother tomorrow?” asked Amos knitting his eyebrows.

“Oh thank you for reminding me Amos,” beamed Celia, “I’ll go ring her now!”


	5. Starting the Quilt

Halfway through breakfast the next day there was a loud knock on the front door.

“Dear lord is that the time!” exclaimed Amos getting up from the table only halfway through his breakfast.

“Must get going, I’ll be late for work!”

Amos rushed over to the flo and went to the Ministry, even though it was only a quarter to eight.

Celia shook her head and went to go get the door.

“Does you Dad not get on with your grandparents?” asked Beth.

“Oh no, he gets on with them, Dad just knows to get out of Gran’s way on the first day of making a new quilt.”

“Why?”

“Because, if anyone gets in the way whilst Gran and Mum are getting the fabric ready they blow their tops,” chuckled Cedric.

Beth looked completely terrified.

“Oh don’t worry,” assured Cedric, “you’ll be fine, you’re helping.”

“Oh,” muttered Beth.

“Hello young Cedric!” said a jovial man coming into the room.

He was a fairly old wizard, probably early seventies. He had a head full of white hair and he was pulling off a soaking wet travelling cloak.

“Hey Grandpa,” chuckled Cedric getting up to give his grandfather a hug.

“So what’s the plan Ced?” he asked in a stage whisper.

“Well my plan is to take the wireless up to my room, there’s three matches today!”

“And I’ll join you,” he chuckled.

“So this must be young Beth,” he asked looking towards Beth who was just finishing off her toast.

“Grandpa, this is Beth, Beth this is Michael Turner, my Grandpa.”

“Hello Mr Turner,” said Beth nodding shyly.

“Beth’s a bit shy,” explained Cedric laughing slightly.

“The Girl Who Lived, defeater of You Know Who being shy?” asked Mr Turner in a tone of mock surprise.

“Well I never,” said Mr Turner shaking his head.

“Come on Grandpa, let’s get the wireless upstairs.”

“Cedric!” exclaimed Mrs Turner coming into the kitchen.

She pulled her grandson into a bone crushing hug which Cedric tried to struggle his way out of.

“How was my little boy gotten so big,” she sobbed as she let go of him.

“It seems only yesterday; you were a little baby in my arms.”

“Granny,” grumbled Cedric blushing.

“He’s not a baby anymore Mary, he’s nearly a man,” Mr Turner pointed out, “he’ll be of age in September.”

“No, he can’t be,” said Mrs Turner shaking her head, “I won’t have it!”

“Stop fussing over him Mummy,” said Celia, “we’ve got work to do.”

“That’s our cue to leave Ced,” said Mr Turner as they both left.

“Mummy, this is Beth, Beth this is Mrs Turner.”

“Hello Mrs Turner,” said Beth slightly worried that Mrs Turner was going to start fussing over her too.

“I’ve waited twenty-five years for a granddaughter,” said Mrs Turner with tears in her eyes, “and now I’ve got one.”

“We’ve got work to do,” said Celia.

“Right yes of course dear,” said Mrs Turner shaking herself out of it.

Beth, Celia and Mrs Turner all headed through to the sitting room where the bags were still waiting from yesterday.

“I’ll go get the iron out,” said Celia.

“Mummy, why don’t you get started on the pattern?”

“There’s a lot of fabrics,” muttered Mrs Turner, “it’s going to be hard to do the pattern.”

“I’ve got some colouring pencils, will that help?”

“That will help a lot dear,” said Mrs Turner, “could you go and fetch them for me?”

Beth nodded and ran up to her room to fetch her pencils, she could hear static from Cedric’s room where he and Mr Turner where trying to find the right channel on the wireless.

“Here you go,” said Beth handing Mrs Turner the pencils.

“That’s a lot of pencils,” exclaimed Mrs Turner.

“Two hundred,” nodded Beth.

“Beth is an artist,” explained Celia, “she also enjoys History of Magic.”

“Probably the only subject at Hogwarts I could actually take,” chuckled Mrs Turner.

“You could take Arithmancy,” Beth pointed out.

“What’s that Beth?”

“It’s like Maths. You use numbers to try and tell the future or find out things about people. There’s no magic involved in any of it.”

“Fascinating,” muttered Mrs Turner as she started to draw up the pattern for the topper.

Beth started to unpack all the fabrics from the bags whilst Celia warmed up the iron.

“You’ll only be needing the fat quarters for now Beth,” explained Celia, “you can leave the others in the bag.”

Beth left the material for the backing, binding, and border in the bag along with the wadding.

“The fat quarters are more than enough to be getting on with though,” sighed Mrs Turner looking at the large stack of nineteen fat quarters.

“The first thing you need to do dear, is to iron out the fabric from when it’s been folded, then we can get started on the cutting and the marking up.”

“I already know how to iron,” said Beth, “I’m quite good at it.”

“Are you sure dear?” asked Celia not wanting Beth to get hurt.

“Hmm, I used to do all the ironing for Aunt Petunia.”

“If you insist,” shrugged Celia passing Beth the iron which had just finished warming by the fire.

Beth laid out the first fat quarter carefully on the ironing board and started to iron out all the creases.

“I’m finished!” she called a few minutes later.

“Couldn’t have done it better myself,” said Mrs Turner nodding approvingly.

“Now then, I want you to do the rest of the ironing, but first I want you to watch something.”

Beth came over to the table and watched eagerly.

There was a foam block on the sitting room table which Celia had laid out the first piece of fabric onto.

She had a ruler which had two arms so she could measure height and width at the same time and a rotary cutter for cutting the fabric.

“Just watch very carefully Beth, I want you to promise me never to use this,” said Celia taking off the protection.

“Surely it can’t be any more dangerous than the knives in potions?” asked Beth incredulously.

“It’s very sharp, and very difficult to cut with properly,” explained Mrs Turner, “I’ll teach you how to use it when you’re older.”

“Ok,” shrugged Beth as she knelt down and watched Celia cut the fabric into twelve perfect squares, leaving the scrap material to the side. 

Then Celia drew a diagonal line straight down the middle of each square. She then laid the first fabric aside and put them all in a paper bag.

“Right,” nodded Celia, “now we do the same for the other eighteen.”

Beth nodded and carefully started to iron out the other fabrics. When Mrs Turner finished drawing up the pattern, she helped Celia with the cutting and marking up of the ironed fabric.

A few hours later, Beth finished the ironing and handed Celia the last fat quarter.

“I’m going to go get the machine out,” said Mrs Turner heading off to the sitting room cupboard.

Beth was starting to get very excited, as Mrs Turner wheeled out the old sewing machine.

“You should really get an electric one Celia,” sighed Mrs Turner.

“The house doesn’t have electricity Mummy,” said Celia shaking her head.

They had clearly had this argument many times before.

“Right now watch carefully,” said Mrs Turner taking a small square.

She sewed along the diagonal line in the middle.

“Now what you do, is to sew a quarter an inch from the line on both sides.”

Mrs Turner demonstrated as Beth watched in fascination.

“What I want you to do Beth, is to take these scissors and cut along those second two lines, that is how we’ll get our triangles.”

“Ok,” beamed Beth taking the scissors and starting to cut carefully along the lines, leaving a half an inch of fabric from the middle.

“Now you need to do that 224 more times,” chuckled Celia, “you might be there a while!”

“I don’t mind,” shrugged Beth, “it’s fun.”

As Beth slowly and carefully cut the triangles using the scissors then she listened to Mrs Turner and Celia chatting.

“You’re a quite one aren’t you Beth?” said Mrs Turner.

“I hope you don’t mind us gossiping away like a pair of old hens,” chuckled Mrs Turner, “we just can’t help it!”

“I don’t mind,” she muttered as she cut another square, “I just like listening.”

“The fabrics changed!” she exclaimed as Mrs Turner passed her the next square.

“Start a new bag then Beth!” called Celia from the table.

“We’ll never get through all these today Mummy,” sighed Celia as she finished cutting the fat quarters but saw how many more squares needed sewing and cutting into triangles.

“We never were going to Celia dear,” said Mrs Turner shaking her head, “but we’re going to get as much as we can done!”

Beth kept on cutting as if her life depended on it, whilst Celia started to clear up the scrap fabric and then started marking up some of the already cut triangles for sewing.

At about five o’clock Cedric and Mr Turner came back downstairs.

“What are you two up to?” asked Mrs Turner turning towards her husband and grandson.

“The matches are over,” shrugged Cedric.

“Your father will be home soon!” gasped Celia.

“Come on Ced, let’s go get some fish and chips for everyone,” chuckled Mr Turner as they both grabbed their coats to walk into the village.

By the time Amos got home, Cedric and Mr Turner had come back from the village with fish and chips for everyone, Mrs Turner had finished sewing the squares and Beth had nearly finished cutting all the triangles.

“Don’t get those greasy chips anywhere near my clean fabrics!” scolded Mrs Turner.

Beth had a quick supper in the kitchen before going back to finish cutting the last of the triangles.

“Is it safe to come in now?” asked Amos poking his head around the door.

“Only if you want to help,” said Celia.

“Come on lads, its time to help,” chuckled Amos.

“If you all take one row each, we’ll sort these out in the time!”

They carefully labelled the paper bags one through fifteen and followed the pattern carefully that Mrs Turner had drawn up earlier placing thirty triangles in each paper bag.

“By the time that they finished loading the bags Beth was half asleep.”

“Bed!” said Amos firmly.

“You can start sewing tomorrow,” said Celia, “if you start tired, you’ll just make mistakes.”  
Beth tried to cover up a huge yawn as she got up.

“Bed!” chuckled Amos and Celia pointing upstairs.

“Night everyone,” muttered Beth drowsily as she headed upstairs, she was asleep before her head even hit the pillow.


	6. The End of the Flood

Beth was in the sitting room working on her squares. She had been for the last few days. She took of the triangles and sewed them together along the diagonal line to make a square, then she’d make another square and sew them together before putting them aside until she had another square to sew on.

She had been doing this for a few days now, and had just finished sewing her second row, today Celia was going to show her how to sew the two rows together on the machine.

“What are you doing up at this time in the morning darling?” exclaimed Celia as she came downstairs in her dressing gown.

“Morning Aunty Celia,” she muttered as she kept sewing.

“How long have you been up?” she asked raising her eyebrows.

Beth shrugged.

“How many squares have you done this morning?” she asked suspiciously.

“Um four,” muttered Beth.

“You’ve been up for two hours!”

“Maybe,” whispered Beth worried she was going to get in trouble.

“I give up,” muttered Celia going to go and put the breakfast on.

“Praise the lord for thou art mighty!” yelled Cedric.

“Am I mishearing things or did my son just praise a deity he doesn’t believe in?” asked Celia from in the kitchen.

“I think so,” giggled Beth.

“It’s stopped raining!” yelled Cedric running down the stairs in a pair of jeans and a Quidditch jersey.

“Thank the lord,” sighed Celia, “if I’d kept him off that broom another day I was going to lose my mind.”

“You going to come to the Weasleys today then?”

“Can I take my sewing?” she asked as she cut the last thread on her second row.

“You and your bloody sewing,” muttered Cedric.

“I’ll show you how to sew the rows together another day dear, but as for now, I want you both to eat some breakfast!”

“Yes Aunty Celia,” giggled Beth tucking into her scrambled eggs and toast.

After a hurried breakfast Beth and Cedric both went to the Weasley’s via the flo.

“Cedric!” exclaimed Fred and George as Cedric came out of the fire.

“We’ve missed you,” said Fred.

“So much,” added George.

“And we’re sorry,” said Fred.

“That we ever said you were like Percy!” they both finished.

“No offence Perc,” said George.

“None taken,” muttered Percy.

“Mum didn’t want me taking any risks by me flying in torrential rain,” groaned Cedric, “but its stopped raining so here I am!”

“Sure we cant persuade you to play Beth?” asked Ron, “we’ve got an odd number.”

“I don’t like flying,” shrugged Beth sitting down next to Percy.

“Why you don’t play half pitch, Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff and Ron can be keeper for both?” suggested Percy.

“Perc you’re a genius,” said Fred giving him a hug.

“Yeah thanks Perc,” beamed George joining in the hug.

“Get off!” grumbled Percy smirking slightly as he pushed his twin brothers off him.

As it was the first nice day in a week then Percy and Beth decided to spend the day outside too.

Percy laid an old picnic blanket down in the grass in the front garden and brought down a huge stack of textbooks.

Beth was sat down on the blanket working on her sewing.

“What you up to Perc?”

“Rereading my history textbooks.”

“What all of them?” exclaimed Beth.

Percy had an extensive collection of History books, mainly from the second hand bookshop, but he had at least thirty.

“Hmm,” nodded Percy.

“Well I’m going to flick through them all and then make a list of page numbers for what’s on the curriculum, that way I can find out if I need any more books on something.”

“Having the right resources is the first step in lesson planning,” muttered Percy.

“Fair enough,” shrugged Beth as she threaded another needle to sew another two triangles together.

“You learning how to quilt?” asked Percy raising his eyebrows.

“How did you know?”

“The squares look familiar, occasionally Mum has to hold what they call a quilting bee.”

“What’s a quilting bee?”

“The devil if I should know, I usually escape up to my room when all the gossiping witches start to arrive.”

“Cedric’s mums been teaching me,” said Beth.

“How long till your Uncle’s get back?”

“One week,” sighed Beth.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I like it at the Diggory’s but it’s not the same, I miss Remus and Sirius.”

“I can understand that,” said Percy jotting down a page number.

“How’s Pen?”

“Penny is wonderful,” beamed Percy, “she’s got a job at the Daily Prophet in the charms column.”

“You looking forward to teaching Perc?”

“Am I looking forward to teaching?” muttered Percy.

“Well, yes and no, I’m looking forward to teaching I love History and I want to pass on my enthusiasm.”

“But,” he chuckled, “I am not looking forward to standing up in front of my little siblings and teaching them.”

“All I can say is, I hope to Merlin that both Fred and George failed their History OWLs otherwise they will haunt my classroom and make my life a living hell!”

“Even Fred and George can’t be that bad!” giggled Beth.

“Yes,” Percy said firmly, “they can!”

Beth was so focused on her sewing that she didn’t notice Mr Weasley come into the garden.

“Ah,” said Arthur looking at some of the finished squares, “I predict there shall be a quilting bee before the Summers end!”

That was the second time that somebody had mentioned quilting bees that day. Beth would have to ask Celia about it when she got home.

As Beth finished off sewing together her third row, Cedric came flying down out of the sky.

“Hey Beth,” said Cedric ruffling her hair, “we should be getting home.”

“Ok Ced,” said Beth putting her sewing away.

“How are you so fast at that sewing?” asked Cedric as he took her work basket from her.

“I don’t know I’m just excited to see what it’s going to look like.”

Beth stepped into the fire and called “The Rookery.”

She spun away from the Burrow kitchen and found herself back at the Diggory’s.

“Hello dear!” beamed Celia giving her a hug.  
“Hello Aunty Celia,” giggled Beth as she stepped out of the fire so Cedric could come through.

“Do you want me teach you how to sew the rows together tonight?”

“Could you really?”

“Of course dear!” 

And so after dinner, Celia got the sewing machine back out and showed Beth how to work it.

“Now you just guide the fabric through with your hand, and keep it straight, and put your foot on the pedal.”

“Ok,” nodded Beth sitting down in front of the machine with two of the rows.

Twenty minutes later, Beth had the first three rows sewn together.

“Wow!” beathed Beth as she looked at the sewn rows.

“It’s beautiful,” she beamed.

“Not as beautiful as someone else I know,” beamed Amos kissing Celia on the forehead.

“Aunty Celia?” asked Beth as she put her sewing away.

“Yes dear?”

“What’s a quilting bee?”

“Who’s been telling you about those?” chuckled Celia.

“Percy, and Mr Weasley.”

“Well a quilting bee is very important, it’s the second last step in making a quilt. Some people sew the topper, wadding and backing by machine, but others do it by hand, that’s when you need a quilting bee.”

“It’s a muggle tradition really. A group of sewers get together for the afternoon and drink tea, and chat whilst sewing the three pieces together.”

“Oh sounds fun,” giggled Beth.

“They are fun,” agreed Celia, “if you were to have one, I’d be there, Mummy of course, Mrs Weasley, and rumour has it Luna Lovegood is quite handy with a needle.”

“Sounds amazing!” exclaimed Beth.

“It does doesn’t it, but that topper needs finishing before we can finalize any of the details.”


	7. Last Night in Wales

Beth was sat in the sitting room sewing again, her trunk was already packed, but she wanted to get some more sewing done.

She was now working on her eighth row and it was starting to look gorgeous.

She was just in the middle of sewing two more triangles next to each other when there was voice from the doorway.

“What a picture of domestic bliss, maybe we should just leave her here?”

“I’m starting to think she hasn’t missed us at all.”

“Uncle Remus! Uncle Sirius!” exclaimed Beth dropping her sewing as she rushed over to the door.

“Hey there Lilybeth!” chuckled Sirius picking her up and swinging her around.

“Hi Cariad,” said Remus giving her a hug as Sirius put her down.

“Looks like Amos and Celia have been taking good care of you,” said Remus tucking a stray lock of hair back behind her ear.

“Been up to any exciting adventures?” whispered Sirius excitedly.

“Well, I’ve done all my holiday homework, and Aunty Celia’s been teaching me how to quilt.”

“That may just be an excuse so I can have you back round every few days,” chuckled Celia as she passed Beth her work basket.

“Are you sure she’s a Maraurder Remi?” asked Sirius suspiciously.

“She doesn’t seem mischievous enough.”

“She’s not a Marauder,” Remus pointed out, “she’s a Beth.”

“You’re right Remi,” said Sirius looking her up and down properly, “she is!”

“Cels, before we go home, we just want to say thanks for you having our little Beth for a fortnight.”

“It was a pleasure Remus, she’s a little dear,” said Celia.  
“Anytime Remus,” roared Amos, “I like having Beth here, it makes a nice change from discussing the Quidditch.”

“Ah yes,” muttered Sirius fishing in his pocket, “Quidditch.”

“The ministry have been, um trying to get back in my good books,” chuckled Sirius, “we got there in the post when we got home.”

He passed an envelope to Cedric, and he couldn’t keep himself from beaming like a madman.

“These are tickets!” stammered Cedric, “to the world cup!”

“To the World Cup Final,” pointed out Remus, “they sent us five tickets, one for each of us, and two for guests, we were wondering if you and Cedric might like to come Amos?”

“Like to?” stammered Amos.

Cedric looked at his dad pleadingly.

“We’d love to!” said Amos giving both Remus and Sirius a hug.

“The World Cup Final!” breathed Cedric his eyes lighting up like stars.

“Beth dear, if you call me when you finish off sewing those last few rows, then you can come round and sew them together on the machine, we’ll get the border on, and then I’ll have to see about arranging you a quilting bee.”

“Thank you again for having me Aunty Celia,” said Beth giving her one last hug.

“Come on Cariad, let’s get you home,” said Remus putting an arm around her.

“Big day tomorrow,” agreed Sirius getting the trunk.

Beth skipped out of the house carrying her workbasket in one hand and holding Remus’ with the other.

“Hold on tight!” said Remus.

Beth gripped onto Remus’ hand as they span away.

“We’ve got an early start Cariad, so I want you to go straight up to bed.”

“But!”

“No ifs, ands or buts,” said Sirius firmly, “Remus’ word is law, besides we’ve got to get up at four o’clock tomorrow.”

“Alright,” grumbled Beth as she headed up to her room.

She settled into bed and Remus got the light.

“Night princess Elizabeth, night Queen Gwen!”

It was dark, pitch black, and she couldn’t see anything.

Beth fumbled for her wand on the bedside table and lit it up.

“Uncle Remus!” she whispered walking along the corridor.

There was a light on from in Remus’ room and she walked further down.

“Uncle Sirius?”

There was no answer, but Beth opened the door to Remus room a fraction of an inch.

Remus’ bedsheets were blood-soaked. Remus throat had been cut in his sleep, Sirius was lying next to him and had been stabbed through the heart.

There was a pool of blood on the floor of the room. Written in the blood was one word. Tom.

“No!!” she screamed.

“Uncle Remus!” she called pinned to her bedsheets in sweat, “Uncle Sirius!!”

“Woah there Cariad,” muttered Remus sitting down on the bed with Guinevere.

“What happened another nightmare?”

“Hmm,” she muttered.

“Want to talk about it?” 

She shook her head frantically.

“Alright little one,” said Remus kissing her on the forehead as he got up to go.

“No!” she screamed, “please don’t go!”

“You’re really shaken up this time aren’t you Beth?” muttered Remus.

“Hmmm.”

“Come on,” said Remus picking her up, “you’re coming in with me.”

Remus carried her through to his bedroom and put her under the duvet next to Sirius.

“What’s the matter?” grumbled Sirius drowsily.

“Bad nightmare,” whispered Remus, “she’s coming in with us for a few hours.”

Beth snuggled down between Remus and Sirius and fell asleep, knowing that they were both still alive, because she could hear their heavy breathing in their sleep.


	8. Regulus

“Why is there a little girl in my bed?” asked Sirius as the alarm clock went off.

Sirius had woken up to find that he was not sharing a bed with just Remus but also Beth and Guinevere.

“The next thing we know, Dobby’s going to be hopping in to,” grumbled Sirius.

“She had a nightmare,” muttered Remus as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

“Not another one,” sighed Sirius.

“I told you before,” whispered Remus, “Beth gets nightmares nearly every night.”

“Poor kid,” said Sirius looking over to little Beth who was sleeping peacefully for once.

“Do we have to wake her up?” whispered Sirius, “she looks so peaceful.”

Remus thought for a moment and went to go and fetch Beth’s quilt from her room and then wrapped her up in it and carefully carried her down to the car.

“How can you do that Remi,” said Sirius shaking his head, “move her without waking her up?”

“Practise,” said Remus kissing her on the top of the head as he did up the seatbelt.

Remus and Sirius started to load all the boxes and trunks into the boot. They had shrunken all the boxes so they could fit them all in.

“I think that’s the lot,” said Sirius as they put Guinevere in the back of the car.

“You alright back there Dobby?” asked Remus turning around.

“Yes thank you Master Remus,” said Dobby getting comfortable in his seat, “this is a very strange machine.”

“It’s called a car,” explained Remus quietly trying not to wake up Beth as it was only five o’clock in the morning.

“It’s a muggle vehicle.”

“Is it safe?” squeaked Dobby nervously as Sirius started up the car.

“Perfectly safe,” nodded Remus.

Dobby seemed slightly unconvinced but was soon distracted by watching the scenery fly past outside the window.

“Where are we?” muttered Beth after a few hours.

“We’re leaving Wales,” said Remus, “we’re about to reach the bridge.”

Beth woke up properly suddenly, she always loved going over the bridge, it was beautiful.

“Goodbye Wales,” sighed Remus looking out the window.

“You’ll always be in my heart, no matter how far away we are.”

“Remi, we can come back some day,” said Sirius gently, “I promise.”

“But it’s not safe, we have to go somewhere safer.”

“I know Siri, I know,” muttered Remus, “but it feels like I’m leaving a part of myself behind.”

“We’ve still got each other Remus,” said Beth, “and that’s what’s important isn’t it?”

“You’re right Cariad,” said Remus nodding.

“It doesn’t matter where we are as long as we’re together.”

Remus was quitter than usual for a while as they drove through the English countryside on the way up to London.

As they started to reach London though Dobby was bursting with questions.

“Why are there so many buses?”

“Those are red double decker buses,” explained Remus patiently, “muggles use them for transportation. If they use the buses, there are less cars and the roads are less crowded.”

“Who lives in there?”

“That is Buckingham Palace,” said Sirius, “the Queen of England and the royal family live in there.”

“England has a queen?”

“Queen Elizabeth the Second,” nodded Sirius.

“Is Mistress Beth Queen of England?” exclaimed Dobby excitedly.

“No Dobby,” giggled Beth, “I’m not the Queen. Elizabeth is a very common name!”

“Oh,” muttered Dobby slightly disappointed.

“Here we are,” said Sirius as they pulled up in the middle of a street of tall ancient London houses.

Quite a few of them had been turned into flats. There was a park across the street where there were several muggles families and children playing.

“Where are we?” asked Beth as they got out of the car.

“Number 12 Grimmauld Place!” said Sirius clearly.

“But there is no number 12,” said Beth confusedly.

But at that second the house started to squeeze itself out, brick by brick from between numbers eleven and thirteen.

“Wow!” exclaimed Beth.

“Come on Lilybeth,” chuckled Sirius as he took a box out of the boot, “let’s get you inside.”

Sirius walked up the steps to the house and Beth walked behind him nervously.

Sirius opened the door to the house and walked in carefully trying to check that the door hadn’t been boobytrapped.

“It’s safe!” Sirius called over to Remus who was standing by the car, “you can come in.”

Sirius walked over the threshold and a portrait started screaming at him.

“Filthy halfbreeds! Bloodtraitors! Get out of the house of my fathers!”

Beth cowered behind Sirius, terrified of the old woman in the portrait.

“Hello Mother,” sighed Sirius looking at the portrait as Remus shut the door.

“You!” screamed Mrs Black.

“How dare you come into this house! You have no right!”

“Well clearly I do,” said Sirius simply, “the house appeared to me, so I do have a right.”

“If there was anywhere else believe me, I’d be there!” he sighed, “but I have to protect my family.”

“They aren’t family!” spat Mrs Black, “they aren’t Blacks!”

“They are my family!” said Sirius firmly, “and we are staying whether you like it or not!”

Remus was standing with his hands in his jacket pocket as Sirius had this argument with his mother.

“Siri, we need to get the stuff out the car.”

“right,” nodded Sirius starting to head back outside.

But then Sirius heard scampering footsteps scurrying down the stairs and Sirius whipped around with his wand out.

“Kreacher heard voices,” croaked an ancient houseelf as he came into the hallway.

“Master Sirius!” said Kreacher in a tone of upmost surprise.

“I thought you were in prison!”

“Serves you right,” he muttered under his breath, “breaking your mothers heart.”

“I never knew she had a heart,” said Sirius.

“Kreacher, this is Beth Potter and Remus Lupin, and the Lupin’s house elf Dobby, we’re going to be moving in.”

“Over my dead body,” muttered Kreacher.

“That can easily be arranged!” said Sirius pointing his wand.

“Calm down Sirius,” said Remus gently taking Sirius’ wand from him.

“We are all going to be living together, and nobody is going to be killing anyone, Sirius, the boot needs unloading.”

Sirius headed out to the car still grumbling as Kreacher glared at him.

Beth was cowering behind Remus as she looked from the portrait of Mrs Black, to the stuffed trolls leg umbrella stand to the house elf heads mounted on the wall.

“I don’t like it here,” she mumbled, “it’s scary.”

“I know Cariad,” sighed Remus pulling her in for a hug, “but it’s safe here, they can’t find us.”

“It’s still scary,” she mumbled.

“We can get rid of the scary things, put a personal touch to it.”

Kreacher and Dobby had started to have a furious argument about who was actually in charge now that there was two house elves.

“Dobby,” said Remus gently, “stop wrestling with Kreacher.”

Dobby jumped off of Kreacher and Kreacher continued to glare at him.

“This is a big house, why don’t you share the responsibilities,” suggested Remus.

“Dobby likes cleaning!” exclaimed Dobby.

“Kreacher, if Dobby is put in charge of the cleaning, how about you’re in charge of everything else?”

Kreacher flinched for a moment.

“Kreacher is in charge of kitchen?”

“Yes Kreacher,” nodded Remus.

Kreacher nodded firmly, that seemed to work for him.

Dobby hurried off to go and get started on the cleaning with great enthusiasm, Kreacher following him, making sure he didn’t break any Black family heirlooms.

“Do you lot want to the royal tour now or later?” asked Sirius sarcastically as he pulled in the last trunk.

“Maybe we should just figure out which bedrooms can still be used?” chuckled Remus.

“Right you are Remi,” said Sirius putting an arm around him.

They headed up to the third floor where the family bedrooms were. There were three bedrooms on this floor, two of them had signs painted on the door, one read Sirius Orion Black, and the other Regulus Arcturus Black.

Sirius opened the door to his room carefully. 

“You ok Siri?” asked Remus.

Sirius was standing in the doorway with his mouth wide open in shock.

“It’s as if I never left,” he mumbled.

Remus looked into the room and saw that the walls were covered in Gryffindor banners and photographs of the Marauders. There was satin scarlet and gold bedsheets on the bed. 

The only difference between the last time Sirius had been here was there was now several clear inches of dust, it was if the room hadn’t been opened in the eighteen years he’d been gone.

“A bit of cleaning and we can move in straight away if you want Siri,” said Remus gently.

“Yeah,” muttered Sirius nodding slightly, “I’d like that.”

Sirius went into his old bedroom and started going through his old things.

Beth opened the door to the other room. 

It couldn’t have been more different from Sirius’ room. Whereas Sirius had tried to emphasize the difference between himself and the rest of the Blacks, Regulus seemed to be proud of being a Black, proud of being a Slytherin.

There were green and silver Slytherin banners hanging from the ceiling, and photographs of Regulus and his friends in their quidditch uniforms. 

There was even the odd photograph of two teenage boys, one slightly younger than the over, they looked almost identical apart from the height, but Sirius’ eyes were a dark green and his younger brothers were a lighter green and flecked with gold. It seemed that even though Sirius had left his family behind, Regulus had never forgotten him.

Next to the photographs was a black and white collage of newspaper clippings. Beth went over to look at them.

“Dark Lord Promises to Bring Power Over Muggles, More Muggle Killings in Dorset, Lord Voldemort- The Dark Lord Who Will Bring in A Bright New Age.”

It made Beth feel slightly sick to look at the clippings, so she decided not to.

She went over to look at the bookshelves. It seemed that Regulus had been just as fascinated with History of Magic as she was. It was quite possible that he had more History books than Percy, which was saying something.

She knelt down to have a closer look through the books.

She noticed that there was another difference between Sirius’ and Regulus’ rooms. Whereas Sirius’ room had been covered in dust, Regulus’ room looked like it had only been cleaned yesterday, and the green and silver satin sheets looked freshly changed too.

She headed over to the desk where the best books seemed to be kept. One of the books was an ancient tome on the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, and another one was a copy of a History of Magic.

As Beth sat down at the desk, she felt herself drawn to one of the drawers of the desk. 

She opened it and found a jumble of writing paper and quills. She riffled through and found an old locket. It was silver but slightly tarnished. There was an emerald snake curled up in the shape of an S on the front of the locket.

“You alright in here Cariad?” asked Remus poking his head through the door.

Beth picked up the locket and it seemed to vibrate and sing slightly, as if it had been waiting for her.

“Beth?” asked Remus nervously coming into the room.

Her scar suddenly jolted into a sudden pain, worse than she had ever felt before. She dropped the locket in shock as she clutched at her scar.

“Beth sweetheart what’s wrong!” yelled Remus running over to her and holding her in close.

“The locket,” she screamed as her scar ached like mad, “made my scar hurt!”

“Your scar,” muttered Remus.

Remus covered his hand with the sleeve of his jumper in case the locket was cursed.

He picked it up carefully.

“Well there’s clearly something strange about this locket,” he muttered, “it’s infested with dark magic.”

“I heard screaming!” said Sirius rushing into the room.

“What’s wrong?” he asked curiously. 

Remus was inspecting a strange locket, and Beth was cowering against the wall clutching at her scar as if the pain was about to kill her.

“Sirius, have you ever seen this necklace before?” asked Remus passing it to Sirius.

“Well no,” muttered Sirius, “that’s not the Black family crest, it’s the Slytherin, where’d you find this Remi?”

“Beth found it,” said Remus crouching down on the floor to put an arm around Beth.

“Where’d you find this Lilybeth?”

“It was in the drawer,” stammered Beth as the pain started to go down, “it was calling for me. It started to vibrate as I picked it up, and then my scar started to hurt.”

“Well I’ve never seen it, I don’t know what Regi was doing with a Slytherin’s locket, but I know someone who might.”

“Kreacher!”

Crack!

“Master called?” asked Kreacher giving a deep bow but glaring at Sirius the whole time.

“Have you seen this before?” asked Sirius passing Kreacher the locket.

“Master Regulus’ locket!” he breathed.

“What was Regulus doing with something that was so infested with dark magic?” asked Remus.

“Kreacher promised to never tell the family!” sobbed Kreacher.

“Kreacher,” sighed Sirius kneeling down slightly and taking Kreacher gently by the shoulders.

“I don’t know what this thing is,” said Sirius looking at the locket, “but whatever it is its infested with dark magic. We need to destroy it, if you know what this is you need to tell me.”

“Kreacher promised,” muttered Kreacher.

“Not to tell the family I know,” chuckled Sirius, “but think he meant my dear old mother.”

Kreacher still looked slightly uncertain.

Remus looked from Beth who was clutching at her scar, to the collage of Voldemort.

“Kreacher, has this got anything to do with Lord Voldemort?” Remus asked carefully.

Kreacher took a deep breath and nodded.

“This is why Regulus disappeared isn’t it?” whispered Sirius.

Kreacher looked nervously over to Sirius and burst into tears.

“Yes!” screamed Kreacher bursting into tears.

“Shhh,” soothed Remus putting an arm around him, “it’s ok Kreacher.”

Kreacher looked slightly disgusted at being touched but soon ignored these feelings.

Beth had stopped clutching at her scar now, the pain had gone down. She was still shaken up though and was sobbing quietly into Remus.

“Keep that thing away from me,” she sobbed as Sirius, Remus and Kreacher passed around the locket.

“It’s ok Cariad,” said Remus gently putting the locket on the desk, “I’m here.”

“Kreacher, I need you to tell me everything you know about this locket,” said Sirius.

Kreacher looked slightly uncertain but took a gulp.

“Master Sirius left home and broke his mother’s heart,” started Kreacher.

“She never had one in the first place,” muttered Sirius.

“Not now Sirius!” said Remus firmly.

“Go on Kreacher,” he said gently.

“Master Regulus wanted to join the Dark Lord, he would tell Kreacher how they were going to take power over the muggles, how wizards wouldn’t have to be in hiding anymore.”

Sirius nodded and bit his lip.

“One day Regulus came home from school with Mistress Bella and Mistress Cissy’s husband, Master Lucius. He was sixteen, he came home for the holidays and told my Master and Mistress that he had joined the Dark Lord and his followers.”

“They were so proud,” beamed Kreacher with tears in his eyes, “he had joined the dark lord with the Lestranges and Malfoys, he was going to put the world right.”

Sirius looked disgusted at the way that Kreacher seemed to be praising Voldemort.

“Leave him Sirius,” mouthed Remus as Beth cried into him still upset over the locket.

“So Regi joined the Deatheaters at sixteen,” growled Sirius, “what happened next?”

“A few years went by,” Kreacher stammered, “Master Regulus served the Dark Lord with devotion. Not long after his eighteenth birthday, after he had left school he asked Kreacher to come to him. He had a very important job for Kreacher.”

“Master Regulus told Kreacher that the Dark Lord needed a house elf, and that Kreacher had been chosen, he had to do a very important job.”

“Why would Voldemort need a house elf?” asked Sirius.

“Damned if I know,” muttered Remus as he stroked Beth’s hair.

“Master Regulus told Kreacher to go with the Dark Lord and then to come straight back home.”

“Kreacher went with the Dark Lord and they went to a cave. They went into the cave and a boat came floating out of the water. Kreacher and the Dark Lord sailed across the water to a small island. There was a basin in the middle of the island which was filled with poison.”

Kreacher stammered slightly and looked at Sirius nervously.

“Keep going Kreacher,” said Sirius gently.

“The Dark Lord made Kreacher drink the poison,” Kreacher said slowly, “it made Kreacher remember horrible things, terrible things. The Dark Lord put the locket into the basin and refilled the basin. The Dark Lord laughed as he sailed away in the boat.”

“So Voldemort just left you there to die?” asked Sirius incredulously.

“Kreacher was thirsty so he went to the water and tried to drink, but a hand reached out of the water. Dead bodies started coming out of the water and attacking Kreacher. He was going to die.”

“Inferi!” whispered Remus.

“Who’d you survive Kreacher.”

“Master Regulus told Kreacher to come home,” said Kreacher simply.

“Ah yes of course,” nodded Sirius.

“Kreacher came home and found Master Regulus, Master Regulus had Kreacher tell him about the cave.”

“What did Reg do then?”

“He acted very strangely for a number of weeks. Spent a lot of time in his room, wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t sleep, wouldn’t talk to anyone, not Kreacher, not my Mistress nobody.”

“After a few weeks Master Regulus called Kreacher to him again and asked him to take Master Regulus to the cave,” Kreacher muttered.

“Oh Merlin!” muttered Sirius.

“We went in the boat, and sailed to the island, Kreacher went to drink the poison, but Master Regulus said he had to drink it, and take the locket out of the basin and put in a new one.”

“Kreacher tried to protest,” sobbed Kreacher, “but Master Regulus said it was an order!”

“Master Regulus drank the poison and Kreacher switched the lockets. Master Regulus reached for the water and the bodies came back out of the lake.”

“Kreacher tried to help Master Regulus, but he had been ordered to go home and destroy the locket.”

“Regi made you leave him there to get destroyed by inferi?” muttered Sirius.

“Yes!” sobbed Kreacher.

“So that’s how Regi died,” muttered Sirius tears in his eyes.

“My little brother joined the Deatheaters, but then changed his mind,” muttered Sirius shaking his head as tears ran down his face, “but it was too late!”

“It’s not your fault Siri,” said Remus putting an arm around him.

“I should have been there for him!” screamed Sirius flinching away from Remus and standing up.

“He was my little brother! Maybe if I hadn’t run away, Reg would never have joined them! Maybe he’d still be alive now!”

“Sirius!” said Remus getting up and putting his hands firmly on Sirius’ shoulders.

“This all happened fifteen years ago, there’s nothing you can do about it now. What we need to do now is destroy this locket, whatever the hell it is, otherwise Regulus would have died in vain.”

“He was my brother!” screamed Sirius, “and I just left him here!”

“I know,” said Remus pulling Sirius in close, “but it’s too late for that now.”

Sirius burst into tears as Remus pulled him in for a hug.

“I’m sorry Regi,” sobbed Sirius, “I shouldn’t have left you here!”

“I know Siri,” muttered Remus as they sat down on Regulus’ bed, “I know.”

Beth hopped up onto the bed and snuggled in between Remus and Sirius.

“It’s ok Uncle Sirius,” said Beth giving him a hug, “it’s alright.”

“I know Lilybeth,” chuckled Sirius cheering up slightly, “I just miss my little brother.”

“Kreacher,” said Remus, “is there anything else you need to tell us?”

Kreacher nodded slightly through his own tears.

“Kreacher had been forbidden to tell any of the family about anything. The cave, Master Regulus’ death. Mistress Black was heartbroken, her darling son had disappeared. She went mad and eventually died of a broken heart.”

“Kreacher had been ordered to destroy the locket, they were Master Regulus’ dying words. Destroy the locket! He tried, but nothing worked. He punished himself. Still nothing worked. He tried again and again, but nothing worked!”

“Kreacher failed his Master Regulus!” sobbed Kreacher bursting into tears.

“It’s alright Kreacher,” said Sirius pulling Kreacher in for a hug, “we’re going to sort this.”

Kreacher’s blotchy face looked up at Sirius.

“You can destroy the locket?”

“No,” said Sirius shaking his head, “but I know someone who can!”

“Thank you Master,” stammered Kreacher.

“Dobby!” called Remus.

“Yes Master?” asked Dobby apparating into the room with a loud Crack.

“Could you sort Kreacher out please,” said Remus gently, “he’s had a shock.”

“Yes Master,” nodded Dobby putting his arm around Kreacher.

Kreacher was still sobbing slightly as Dobby led him from the room.

“I need to go get Dumbledore,” said Sirius getting up from the bed, “he’ll know what to do.”

“You going to be ok Lilybeth?”

“Hmmm,” she muttered still shaking slightly and clutching at her scar as it burnt up again.

“She’ll be fine Siri,” said Remus brushing her fringe off her forehead, “I’ll look after her.”

“It’s ok Cariad,” soothed Remus pulling her in close as she started sobbing again, “I’m right here.”

“That thing,” she sobbed clutching at her scar.

“Did your scar hurt little one?”

“I thought the pain was going to kill me,” she sobbed, “I was so scared.”

“It’s ok,” he muttered rocking her back and forth as she cried hysterically, “nobody’s going to hurt you and Sirius has gone for Dumbledore, everything will be alright, nobody’s going to hurt you.”

“Hmmm,” she muttered still crying slightly.

“Shhh, it’s ok little one, you’re safe.”

“I love you Uncle Remus,” she mumbled.

“I love you too little one,” he said chuckling softly as he brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

Beth sobbed into Remus for a few minutes until she eventually stopped crying.

Remus fished in his jeans pocket and passed her a handkerchief.

“Right,” he said passing it to her, “now blow.”

Beth blew her nose which had getting clogged up from all the crying.

“Better?” he chuckled.

Beth nodded.

“That’s my little girl,” he beamed kissing her on the forehead.

“Remus my boy!” called Professor Dumbledore as he came into the room with Sirius.

“Hello Albus,” sighed Remus getting up from the bed to shake his hand.

“Don’t get up Remus,” said Dumbledore shaking his head.

“So when did you move back in Sirius?”

“This morning, got here about three hours ago.”

“How are you Beth dear?” asked Dumbledore sitting down next to her.

Beth just stared into space and pulled at the end of her plait.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with her Albus,” said Remus shaking his head nervously.

“She picked up that locket and her scar went berserk.”

“Hmmm,” muttered Dumbledore walking over to the desk and picking it up carefully.

“Any idea what it is Albus?” asked Sirius walking over to him.

“I believe so yes,” sighed Dumbledore.

“This is a Horcrux,” said Dumbledore grimly.

“A what?” asked Sirius.

“No,” muttered Remus, “surley not.”

“Not even Voldemort would have….”

“But he already has Remus,” Dumbledore pointed out.

“The diary!” whispered Remus clutching onto Beth’s shoulders for dear life.

“Yes,” sighed Dumbledore, “the diary.”

“What’s a Horcrux?” asked Sirius looking confusedly from the solemn Dumbledore to the stammering Remus.

“A Horcrux is a very ancient and dark piece of magic, it contains a part of a wizard’s soul.”

“A part of his soul!” breathed Sirius.

“I thought that Voldemort might have made Horcruxes when Beth explained the diary to me just over a year ago. It seemed as if Voldemort had managed to contain a small part of his soul or memory with in the book.”

“So is that why Voldemort didn’t die all those years ago?” asked Sirius.

“He can’t die properly till all the Horcruxes are gone,” said Remus gulping slightly.

“So how do we destroy it?” asked Sirius.

“We have to stab it with a basilisk fang,” explained Dumbledore pulling one out of his robe’s pockets.

“Where the devil did you get that Albus?” stammered Remus.

“I have my contacts,” he said smiling slightly.

“Beth my girl,” said Dumbledore gently, “I need you to help me with it.”

“It’s alright darling,” said Remus giving her a hug, “I’m just over here.”

Beth walked over slowly to the desk where the locket was.

“I need you to open it for me,” said Dumbledore, “you need to talk to the snake.”

Beth nodded nervously and looked at the snake on the locket.

“Open!” she said clearly.

Dumbledore passed her a basilisk fang as the locket clicked open.

“I know your secrets Elizabeth Potter!” whispered a voice.

It sounded like tom from the diary, but much more menacing.

She put her hands up to her head and tried to block out the voice.

“I know your fears!”

“I know you worry about losing those close to you, your family your friends.”

“If you fight me and try to kill me they will all die.”

“Don’t listen to him Beth!” cried Remus.

“Kill the fucking bastard!” called Sirius his voice full of vengeance.

“But if you join me, nobody would die, and we can take over the muggles together!”

“I’ll join you when Hell freezes over!” Beth said defiantly stabbing the locket right in the heart.

The locket moved around on the desk, trying to struggle underneath the fang. Suddenly it stopped moving.

As she looked at the locket with the gaping hole she started to feel slightly weak as if she was about to faint.

“Woah there Cariad!” exclaimed Remus running over to catch her as she started to wobble slightly.

“You were bloody brilliant Lilybeth!” said Sirius giving her a bone crushing hug.

“My sentiments exactly,” nodded Dumbledore.

“Now I’m sure you have a lot of important things to be getting on with, moving into a new house and everything. I should be getting going.”

“Goodbye Albus, and thank you,” said Remus.

“Yeah thanks,” nodded Sirius.

“How you feeling little one?” asked Remus looking at Beth nervously who was white as a sheet.

“Tired,” she muttered.

“It’s only three o’clock in the afternoon,” chuckled Sirius.

“She’s had a long day,” said Remus, “we all have.”

“Why don’t we get started on the unpacking tomorrow,” suggested Remus as they all got comfortable on the bed, “for today I think we all need some rest.”

Beth fell asleep lying comfortably between Remus and Sirius. She didn’t have any nightmares that night, because she knew that she was safe.


	9. Unexpected Visitors

Beth woke up and felt slightly strange. 

This wasn’t her room. She wasn’t in her room at home, she wasn’t in her dormitory, she wasn’t even at the Diggory’s.

But then she remembered that they had moved yesterday. She wondered where Remus and Sirius were. She supposed they must have woken up at some point and gone through to their own room.

She checked her watch and saw that it was three o’clock in the morning. She guessed she was up so early as she’d gone to bed early.

Beth noticed that all her boxes and her trunk had already been moved up to her new room. Dobby and Kreacher must have moved them whilst she was asleep.

She turned on her light and stood up on the bed carefully trying to fall off. 

The first she wanted to do was to take down that awful collage of newspaper clippings.

She then took down the Slytherin banners and put them in the corner of the room with the collage, Remus and Sirius could decide what to do with them later.

She carefully took down all the photographs of Regulus and put them in the desk along with the writing paper.

She went over to the wardrobe and chest of drawers which were still full of Regulus’ clothes including his school robes and old Quidditch robes.

She folded Regulus’ clothes away carefully to put in one of the boxes when she was finished.

She brought over the boxes containing her own clothes and started to fold away her all her clothes into the wardrobe and the chest of drawers.

She then unpacked all her books and put them on the shelf along with Regulus’. She was looking forward to going through all of Regulus’ books at some point.

There was still a shelf that was nearly empty which Beth started to load all her notebooks onto. The rest of the bookshelf was a jumble of muggle and magical books. Even Regulus had had some muggle novels. He had clearly been a fan of Charles Dickens because he had at least ten of his books.

Beth was halfway through sticking up some of her photographs as she listened to some records as Sirius walked into the room.

“I hardly recognise the place,” he chuckled.

“How long have you been up?” he said shaking his head, “it’s six o’clock in the morning!”

“About three hours,” shrugged Beth as she pinned up the photos.

“Feel free to do with those as you wish,” she muttered indicating the Slytherin banners and Voldemort collage.

“Hide in the deepest darkest corner of the attic seems like a good idea,” said Sirius shaking his head.

“What about his clothes?”

“I’ll keep them,” said Sirius.

“You sure you don’t want to decorate the place?” asked Sirius.

Beth looked at the walls which were already painted a light cream.

“I might add to them,” said Beth looking at her acrylic paints.

“Well Remus, Dobby, Kreacher and I are going to get started on the rest of the house, so just call if you need us ok?”

She finished the last of her unpacking and put some old clothes on.

She got out a tube of gold acrylic paint and a fine paintbrush and started to add to the walls.   
She was just finishing adding vines of gold flowers all over the walls when there was a loud knock on the front door.

“Half breeds! Unnatural relationships! Blood traitor scum!” screamed Mrs Black.

Beth rushed out of her room and down the stairs to find out what in the world could be going on.

Sirius and Remus were both standing in the entrance way to the house with their wands drawn.

They had told nobody that they were moving, let alone where they were moving to. So how had they been found quite so quickly?

“Uncle Remus!” called Beth from over the stairs.

“Come here Cariad,” said Remus holding his arms open for her.

Beth ran to him and he put his hands on her protectively as Sirius went to get the door his wand still out.

Sirius opened the door slowly still holding his wand out.

“Hello Cousin,” beamed Andromeda Tonks who was standing on the steps up to the house in a green muggle dress.

“Andi!” exclaimed Sirius pulling his favourite cousin for a hug.

“Come in, come in all of you!” beamed Sirius putting his wand back away and standing back from the door.

Beth was still slightly nervous as the Tonks’ came into the house.

“It’s ok Lilybeth,” said Sirius, “this is my cousin Andromeda, and her husband Ted, and their daughter Nym.”

“I forgot you used to call me that,” chuckled Tonks her hair changing to bright pink as she laughed.

“You met them at Dad’s funeral,” Remus reminded her.

“Hmmm,” nodded Beth still not leaving Remus’ side.

“How did you even know we were here?” asked Remus as he helped them off with their cloaks.

“Well,” chuckled Ted, “when you got set free two weeks ago we wanted to come see you then.”

“But we wanted to give you some space to breath,” said Andromeda, “and then yesterday afternoon Dumbledore came around and told us you’d moved back into the old place.”

“Well I’m glad you’ve shown up when you did,” said Sirius shaking his head, “this house is in a right old state, even with two house elves helping it’s going to take us all day to sort the place out.”

“Cleaning?” grumbled Tonks.

“From what I remember you were cool, or had Azkaban changed you?”

“Azkaban hasn’t changed me Nym,” said Sirius, “but I don’t want a house infested with doxies.”

Beth was pulling slightly at Remus’ jumper sleeve.

“Yes Beth?” he chuckled looking down at her.

“I’ve finished my room, want to see it?”

“I’d love to!” beamed Remus.

“Anything’s got to be better than cleaning,” muttered Tonks following them up the stairs.

“Are you sure this is the same room?” exclaimed Remus.

Beth had painted the walls, taken down all the Slytherin decorations, and Kreacher had been in to change the sheets which were now a pale yellow.

“Did you do this yourself?” exclaimed Tonks reaching out to trace the flowers.

“Careful!” stammered Beth, “I only just finished.”

“You’re a girl after my own heart I see?” asked Tonks looking at the photographs.

“Who’d have thought Elizabeth Potter would be a Hufflepuff!”

“Remus, do you need any help with the cleaning, or can I get on with my sewing?”

“No that’s alright Cariad, you get on with your sewing,” he chuckled kissing her on the head as she got out her work basket.

“You can keep Dora company,” he beamed, “just call if you need anything.”

Beth got out her sewing as Tonks looked interestedly at the collage that was still in the corridor.

Beth looked at her in shock as she did her sewing.

“Why are your eyes popping out?” laughed Tonks.

“I’m not a Voldemort supporter if that’s what you’re wondering, I’m just interested in what these clippings say.”

Beth still looked slightly confused.

“The only interest I have in dark wizards is catching them, I’m an Auror.”

“Like Alistair Moody?”

“You know Mad Eye?” asked Tonks surprised.

“He came around to the house last year to warn us about Sirius, he was also friends with Lyall.”

“Cool!” nodded Tonks.

“You’re cool,” giggled Beth, “you can change your hair colour.”

“Yeah but I don’t have that killer scar!”

Beth kept on doing her sewing as Tonks looked around her room with interest.

“Beth?”

“Hmmm?” muttered Beth as she sewed some squares together.

“Who’s this dashing young man?”

Tonks had moved onto flicking through Beth’s sketchbooks.

“Which one?” asked Beth.

Tonks brought over a sketchbook which was open to a drawing from a few days ago.

“Oh, that’s Cedric,” shrugged Beth as she went to back to her drawing.

“Cedric?”

“Yeah Cedric Diggory,” shrugged Beth.

“Cedric Diggory!” screamed Tonks.

“But he’s just a little kid! A very fast little kid on a broom but a little kid!”

“He isn’t, isn’t.”

“Isn’t what?” giggled Beth looking over at a blushing Tonks.

“Well there’s no other way to put it, he’s drop dead gorgeous!”

Beth smirked slightly as she went back to the drawing.

“What?” asked Tonks incredulously.

“Everyone says that about Ced, practically all the girls in the whole school swoon over him from the tiny first years to the seventh years. Half the boys too!”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” giggled Tonks looking at the sketch.

“But still, that can’t be Cedric? Cedric was so shy, so tiny, his face was covered in baby fat!”

“How long ago was this exactly?” asked Beth suspiciously.

“Well, I suppose I haven’t seen him since I left school so three years, he was six years below me.”

“Well he looks different but other than that he’s the exact same Cedric,” shrugged Beth.

“Cedric Diggory,” muttered Tonks flicking through the sketchbooks for more drawings off him.

“You’re really taken with him, aren’t you?” sniggered Beth.

Tonks blushed profusely.

“You and just about every other girl in the school,” said Beth shaking her head as she went to go and find Remus.

“Hi Uncle Remus!” said Beth giving him a hug.

“Hello little one,” he chuckled putting down a bottle of doxycide.

“Can Tonks stay for tea?”

“Have you and Dora been getting on?” beamed Ted.

“Oh yes, she’s been chatting as I’ve been doing my sewing.”

“You sew, do you?” asked Andromeda.

“Celia Diggory has been teaching her how to quilt,” explained Sirius.

“Ah,” muttered Ted knowingly, “I see a Quilting Bee on the horizon!”


	10. The Quilting Bee

Beth was very excited, this morning she was going around to the Diggory’s to sew the last few rows on and the border, but this afternoon was the Quilting Bee.

She was so excited that she could hardly eat her breakfast.

“Eat something dear,” said Remus gently.

“She’ll be fine,” shrugged Sirius as he ate his own breakfast, “there’ll be cake and finger sandwiches at that party this afternoon.”

“Yes buts that not till this afternoon,” Remus pointed out, “and she’s skinny enough as it is.”

Beth ate her slice of toast so quickly she hardly had time to chew.

“Off you go,” chuckled Remus, kissing her on the head.

“Have a nice time Lilybeth!” Sirius called as Beth ran over to the fire with her workbasket.

“The Rookery!” Beth called clearly dropping the flo powder.

“Good morning dear!” said Celia giving her a hug as she arrived.

“Morning Beth,” smirked Cedric as he finished his breakfast.

“When do the chattering old hens get here?” asked Cedric.

“Out!” said Celia firmly.

“Come on Ced, lets get over to The Burrow,” said Amos putting an arm around him, “the World Cup starts in two hours!”

Cedric and Amos both headed over to the fire and floed to the Weasleys.

Celia set up the sewing machine and Beth sewed on the last seven rows whilst Celia got the border ready to be sewn on. Then Beth sewed on the border and then they had to get ready for the guests.

It was already twelve thirty and the guests would be getting here at one.

Celia pulled the quilting frame out of the sitting room cupboard where they also kept the sewing machine.

Beth helped her move the furniture, and then Celia set up the quilting frame which took up nearly the whole sitting room and then placed chairs on all four sides so they could do the sewing.

At one o’clock exactly as Celia and Beth had just finished placing the backing, wadding and topper on the frame there was a knock on the door.

Beth rushed to the door and skipped off to answer it.

Molly Weasley was standing at the door with a large cake tin, and Mrs Turner had brought the sandwiches.

“Hello Mrs Weasley!” beamed Beth giving her a hug.

“Hello Beth dear,” said Molly handing Celia the cake tin.

“You excited for your first Quilting Bee?” asked Mrs Turner.

“When I had my first, I didn’t talk about anything else for months,” said Molly as they went through to the sitting room.

Not long after that, Luna came and then Andromeda who was dragging a very reluctant Tonks.

“I don’t know why I have to be here on my day off,” grumbled Tonks as she took her place next to Beth.

“I’m missing the sodding Quidditch opening!”

“You’ll see,” muttered Beth smiling.

Beth and Tonks were sat on one side of the frame, Luna and Molly on the next, Andromeda and Mrs Turner on the next side, and Celia on the last.

“I haven’t been to one of these in years,” sighed Andromeda, “none of my friends sew.”

“Really?” asked Molly as she threaded her needle.

“We seem to have one of these every month or so,” explained Celia, “whenever one of us finishes a project, and we always find it difficult to find enough sewers.”

“Maybe we’ll have to invite you more often Andromeda?” asked Mrs Turner.

“Every month or so?” grumbled Tonks as she stabbed her needle in and out of the quilt.

Luna was quite a dreamy sewer and would occasionally prick herself with the needle, but other than that she did beautiful stitching.

Most of the conversation was about cake recipes or how the children were doing, occasionally Tonks would bring up the Quidditch World Cup or Luna would mention nargles or wrackspurts. Beth just listened in to all the conversations as she sewed.

Every now and again they would have to roll the quilt in and they would all have to move their chairs forward. Eventually after four hours they finally finished sewing the topper, wadding and background together. 

Now all the had to do was to sew the binding, in just a few hours, the quilt would now be finished.

Tonks was getting very bored, sewing back and forth. They had been here for five hours, but with every single stitch, Beth’s smile grew.

Beth was a good kid, so she didn’t mind being here for Beth’s sake but if her mum had to go to another one of these things, she was staying at home to listen to the Quidditch match.

Just as Tonks was starting to wonder just how much longer she was going to be stuck here there was a noise from the kitchen.

“Hello Cels!” roared Amos coming in from the kitchen and giving Celia a kiss.

“Had a good day?”

“Wonderful,” beamed Celia, “we’ll be finished soon, just another few minutes.”

“Cedric dear, could you put a pot of tea on please?” asked Mrs Turner.

“Already on it Granny!”

Cedric came back through from the kitchen a few minutes later with the pot of tea.

Beth nudged Tonks trying not to giggle at the fact that Tonks was so bored she hadn’t even seen Cedric walk into the room.

“Tonks,” chuckled Beth.

“What are we done?”

“Yes,” giggled Beth as she finished the last stitch.

“This is Cedric,” Beth pointed out as Cedric passed them both a cup of tea.

“Hello,” nodded Cedric beaming before going to go and serve the tea to everyone else.

“I told you it would be worth it,” said Beth as Tonks looked at her mouth agape.

Tonks for the first time in her life was dumbstruck.

“He likes Quidditch, his favourite team are the Chudley Canons.”

“Thanks Beth!” beamed Tonks going off to go and talk to Cedric.

Tonks helped Cedric put the furniture back to normal whilst they discussed England’s chances for the cup.

“We’ve got tickets for the final,” said Cedric excitedly, “I hope England make it.”

“Ohh!” exclaimed Tonks, “you’re so lucky!”

“I’m going to the final too, but I’m going to be working.”

“Working?”

“I’m an auror,” beamed Tonks, “I qualified last month.”

“You’re joking!” said Cedric his eyes lighting up.

“You’re a dark wizard catcher? That’s amazing!”

“If I can’t go professional with Quidditch I think an Auror would be pretty cool too.”

“It is pretty cool,” admitted Tonks.

“Can I ask you an honest question?” asked Cedric.

“Go ahead?”

“How did you die your eyebrows the exact same shade of pink as your hair? I’ve tried changing my eyebrows but I can never get it quite right.”

“I’m a metamorhmagus,” shrugged Tonks.

“Really?” enthused Cedric.

Tonks closed her eyes firmly and her hair and eyebrows changed to a grass green.

“You are so cool!” said Cedric shaking his head.

“Um thanks,” chuckled Tonks.

Beth shook her head as she folded away her brand-new quilt carefully. 

“Thank you everyone for helping,” beamed Beth.

“That’s quite alright dear,” nodded Molly.

“Quite an achievement, such a good quilt for a first timer,” said Mrs Turner.

“Thank you,” blushed Beth.

Beth went back to Grimmauld Place via the flo, where everyone was waiting for her in the kitchen.

“Just in time for dinner Lilybeth.”

“Kreacher has made Lasagne and garlic bread,” said Kreacher proudly. He had been trying to learn some new recipes.

“It smells delicious Kreacher and looks even better.”

“Thank you, mistress Beth,” beamed Kreacher as he plated up the food.

“So when are we going to get to see this wonderful quilt you haven’t stopped on about for the last fortnight?” asked Sirius as they finished dinner.

“Right now, but not in here, I don’t want it get covered in food.”

“Fair enough little one,” laughed Sirius as they all headed up to the sitting room.

Beth spread out the quilt on the sitting room floor, and everyone stood around looking at it.

“It’s beautiful Cariad,” said Remus with his arm around her.

“Wow!” muttered Sirius, “and this only took you a month?”

“Just under a month actually,” shrugged Beth.

“Mistress Beth is very talented,” said Dobby.

“The stitches are so tiny but perfect,” agreed Kreacher.

“Thank you everyone,” blushed Beth as she folded it away carefully and then put it on her bed upstairs.

Beth had done nearly nothing else for the last month, but it was the most beautiful thing she had even seen.


	11. The Twenty Four Hour Bug

Beth woke up and her head felt terrible. She had such a headache it felt like it was about to explode.

“Wakey wakey rise and shine sleepy head!” yelled Sirius pulling open the curtains.

“Go away!” grumbled Beth pulling the duvet over her head so she couldn’t see the light.

“The sun is shining, the sky is bright, the birds are singing. It’s a beautiful day, maybe we could do some sightseeing, one of those London bus tours?”

“Just give me a minute,” she mumbled closing her eyes for a few more seconds.

Sirius left the room whistling and Beth tried to heave herself out of bed.

“One, two three!” she called before pulling back the duvet to get out of bed.

She started to shiver as she tried to pull herself off the bed. She stood up and felt dizzy.

What the hell was wrong with her?

She was still feeling dizzy as she walked next door to Remus and Sirius’ room.

Remus was sitting up on top of the bed in a t shirt and a pair of jeans, Sirius was shaving in the bathroom.

“Uncle Remus,” she muttered, “I’m not feeling too great.”

“Hmmm?” he muttered looking up at her.

It was that point when she felt even more dizzy and practically fainted onto Remus and Sirius’ bed.

“Elizabeth!” screamed Remus throwing his book down to check on her.

“You’re burning up little one,” he muttered checking her forehead.

“I feel freezing,” she sobbed as she shivered.

“I’m sure you do princess,” said Remus gently.

“Any other symptoms?”

“My heads stuffy, and I’m really tired.”

“Does your throat hurt? How about your nose?”

“My throat hurts a little bit,” she shrugged.

“How about your joints?”

“They’re fine.”

“Hmmm,” he muttered, “I think you’ve got the flu little one.”

“I was meant to be going round to the Weasley’s,” she groaned trying to get up off the bed, “they’re having a Quidditch tournament.”

“You are not going anywhere young lady!” said Remus firmly.

“The only place you are going is to bed,” he muttered shaking his head.

“I’m just going to go and get the thermometer. Don’t move a muscle.”

“Why are you lying on top of the bed Lilybeth,” asked Sirius as he came back into the room.

“I thought we were going sightseeing?”

“Remus told me not to move,” she mumbled. It was starting to hurt her voice to talk in anything above a whisper.

“Well that’s not weird at all,” muttered Sirius, “I thought we were going to have a family fun day!”

“Family fun day can wait Siri,” said Remus shaking his head.

“Open,” he said sitting down next to Beth.

Beth opened her mouth a fraction of an inch and Remus put the thermometer in.

“42,” he nodded looking down at the temperature.

“Do you want to stay in here, or do you want to go through to your own room?”

“Could I stay in here?” she muttered weakly.

“Of course you can little one,” he beamed.

“So we not going out then?” asked Sirius.

“Sirius, for Merlin’s sake what do you not understand about a 42 fever?” Remus snapped glaring at Sirius.

“Sorry Remi,” muttered Sirius staring down at his shoes foolishly.

“Why don’t you go do something useful Sirius and go fetch Beth’s quilt please.”

“Right then Cariad, in you get,” Remus tucked her into bed properly and propped her head up on the pillows.

“Here you go Lilybeth,” beamed Sirius spreading the quilt out on the bed so she could snuggle up in it.

“You hungry?”

“I couldn’t eat a thing,” she whispered, “my throat hurts even to talk.”

“How about I get Kreacher to make you a nice pot of honey and lemon tea?” asked Sirius.

Beth nodded eagerly.

“I’ll go sort that out for you right now,” said Sirius kissing her on the forehead.

“Want me to read to you?”

“Hmm,” she nodded drowsily her head resting against the pillows.

“Do you want an old favourite or something you haven’t had before?”

“Old favourite,” muttered Beth, “then I can doze on and off.”

“Little Women it is,” said Remus going through to Beth’s room to pick up the book.

Sirius came back in with a pot of tea as Kreacher came in behind him.

“Is Mistress Beth sick?” he croaked nervously.

“No Kreacher,” chuckled Sirius, “she’s got a touch of flo.”

“Maybe Kreacher could make some soup?”

“Tomato perhaps, it is Mistress Beth’s favourite.”

“Thank you Kreacher,” said Beth smiling tiredly, “that would be lovely.”

“Who wants to go first?” asked Remus as he came back in with the book.

“I’ll start her off,” said Sirius sprawling down the bottom of the bed.

Remus sat down on top of the bed next to Beth and she snuggled into him.

“Are we all comfy?”

“Hmmm,” muttered Beth tiredly.

“Then I’ll begin,” said Sirius clearing his throat loudly as he turned the first page on the book.

“Do my eyes deceive me, or did you illustrate this book Lilybeth?”

“That book is a one of the kind, Susan had it printed for her,” explained Remus.

Sirius and Remus took it in turns to read to her, one chapter at a time.

Beth dozed on and off leaning into Remus all morning.

“You feeling any better darling?” asked Remus as she woke up at around twelve o’clock.

“A bit,” she mumbled.

“Your temperature’s still a bit high Cariad,” said Remus checking her forehead.

“I’m cold,” she insisted.

“Hmmm,” he muttered.

“Do you feel up to eating anything?” asked Sirius.

“My throat hurts, but I am a bit hungry.”

“I’ll go get you some soup,” he chuckled getting up.

“Remus,” muttered Beth.

“Yes Cariad,” said Remus brushing her fringe of her slightly sweaty forehead.

“I’m not being a pain today am I?” she asked nervously.

“What do you mean?”

“Well you and Sirius are looking after me and everything. Surely there’s other things you want to be doing.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Well,” she stammered still talking in barley above a whisper, “I know you’d probably prefer to be reading or something, and Sirius wanted a family bonding day to go out sightseeing. But I’m stuck in bed and you’re both looking after me!”

Beth suddenly burst into hysterical tears.

“Come here little one,” sighed Remus.

“We don’t mind looking after you, it’s our job. Besides, Sirius has got his family bonding day, he’s just got one without actually leaving the house.”

“I suppose he has,” giggled Beth.

“I want you to eat this whilst it’s good and hot,” said Sirius passing her a bowl of soup, “Kreacher just finished making it for you.”

Beth picked up the spoon and tucked into the soup.

“Mmmm,” she muttered, “it’s perfect!”

“Glad to hear it,” beamed Sirius, “now on with the book!”

Beth snuggled back into Remus as she finished off her soup and dozed on and off all afternoon.

Remus and Sirius stayed up all night, taking it in turns to read by the lamplight.

The next morning as they got towards the end of the first part of Little Women, Remus checked her temperature again.

“You’re back to normal sweetheart, how are you feeling?”

“Just tired,” she mumbled.

“Well you get some sleep and I promise you you’ll be feeling all better,” said Sirus.

It had been a very long and strange twenty-four hours, but Beth would never forget it. Beth had been ill before, but she’d always muddled through on her own trying not to bother anyone especially not the Dursleys. But Remus and Sirius had looked after her the whole time, and even though she had been half asleep for other half of it, she knew how much they loved her.


	12. Many Happy Returns

Sirius opened the door a fraction of an inch.

Guinevere was lying on top of the bed and glaring at him.

“Shhh!” he muttered putting a finger up to his lips.

Guinevere stopped glaring at him and went back to sleep.

“Come here Gwen,” said Remus picking her up off the bed.

Guinevere nuzzled herself up next to Remus in his arms.

“You ready Remi?” whispered Sirius.

“Good morning Lilybeth,” said Sirius nudging Beth gently and sitting down next to her on the bed.

“Hmmm?” she mumbled.

“What time is it?”

“It’s your birthday Cariad!” beamed Remus.

Beth looked up at Remus and Sirius for a minute.

“It’s my birthday!” she exclaimed jumping out of bed.

Beth jumped out of bed to go and get up. She took a bath and washed her hair and then plaited her hair into a half up before pulling on a floral print Summer dress.

Her birthday wasn’t going to be as big as her other birthdays this year. They couldn’t have her whole year round because they didn’t want too many people knowing where they were living.

Both Ernie and Susan were away, Ernie was on holiday touring Europe with his family, and Susan was visiting her grandparents all Summer. Beth didn’t mind though, she got letters from both of them at least twice a week.

But she was still having a birthday party, all the Weasley’s were coming, and the Diggory’s and the Tonks’.

Beth hurried down to the kitchen and Kreacher helped her do up her apron. There were so many people coming round so there was a lot of cooking and baking to do. They spent the whole day in the kitchen, they made a lemon drizzle cake, petit fours with yellow and pink icing, jam tarts, shortbread biscuits, iced buns, finger sandwiches, crudites, sausage rolls, potato salad, and goodness knows what else.

Finally at just before six o’clock Beth took off her apron and went back upstairs to take a quick look in the sitting room.

“No peeking!” said Sirius poking his head out the sitting room door.

“Please!” she begged.

“Your guests will be here in less than five minutes,” said Remus shaking his head, “why don’t you go down to the kitchen to greet them?”

“Ok,” grumbled Beth heading back down to the kitchen where the fireplace was.

She sat down at the table and swung her legs back and forth as she waited for people to arrive.

A few seconds later Ginny practically fell out of the fire.

“You ok Gin?” giggled Beth helping Ginny off the floor.

“Yeah,” giggled Ginny, “that was actually kind of fun!”

“Happy Birthday Beth!” said Ron giving her a hug as he arrived.

“Thanks Ron!”

Soon all the Weasleys arrived, even Bill and Charlie because it was the holidays and they had come home a few days ago.

“So this must be the Beth that Ron and Ginny never stop going on about?” asked Bill.

“Well what do you know,” muttered Charlie, “they weren’t lying, they really are friends with the Girl Who Lived.”

“And here we are thinking it was an elaborate prank from Fred and George,” chuckled Bill.

Not long after that the Diggory’s and the Tonks’ arrived.

Tonks’ hair was electric blue today and she was wearing a bright blue leather jacket to match.

“Well if isn’t Nymphadora Tonks!” chuckled Charlie pulling her in for a hug.

“Oi!” said Tonks glaring at him, “even you can’t call me Nymphadora, ex-boyfriend or not!”

“I’ve missed you Tonks,” said Charlie.

“Well I’m sorry Weasley,” beamed Tonks, “but I’m taken!”

Tonks put her arm around Cedric who seemed slightly surprised but beamed as they walked up to the sitting room.

The room had been transformed, it had been a very formal room full of black velvet curtains and ancient tomes. Now it was bright and colourful. Sirius and Remus were both slightly paint splattered as they’d spent half the day painting the walls a warm blue and then used a drying charm on the walls.

Remus had been fiddling all afternoon and had managed to wire the sitting room up with electricity so they could plus the television and video player in. 

There was a table on one side of the room practically groaning with all the presents, and another one with food.

“What do you want first, presents or food?”

“Presents!” beamed Beth.

“Ok kiddo,” said Sirius.

Beth rushed over to the table and started off by opening all the presents from the people who couldn’t be there.

She had gotten sweets and chocolates from Hannah, Zach, Neville, Artie, Justin and Neville. Ernie had sent her a huge parcel full of magical history books from all the places he’d been visiting in Europe. Susan’s granny had been teaching her how to knit, and she had made Beth a pair of fingerless gloves in Hufflepuff colours.

“Ok who wants to go next?” asked Sirius.

Fred and George threw their hands in the air and passed Beth a paper bag.

“What’s in here?” muttered Beth looking down in the bag which was full of an assortment of brightly coloured sweets.

“Don’t you dare eat those!” said Percy taking the sweets from her and glaring at the twins.

“They’re trick sweets,” giggled Ginny, “Fred and George have been developing them.”

“Tongue tun toffees,” nodded Fred.

“And Fainting Fancies,” agreed George.

“You know what Perc, I might keep those,” muttered Beth taking the bag back.

“They might be quite useful for Crabbe and Goyle if Malfoy annoys me again this year.”

“And here was I thinking she wasn’t a Marauder,” said Sirius ruffling her hair proudly.

“Those sweets are only to be used in defence young lady,” said Remus firmly but still smirking slightly.

“This one is from me,” said Bill passing her a small box.

“I didn’t know what you liked, but I thought every teenage girl likes something pretty,” he shrugged.

Beth opened the box and found a necklace made with tiny blue beads.

“Its an Egyptian necklace,” explained Bill, “I picked it up in the marketplace.”

“Don’t look too closely Gin,” he chuckled, “I’ve got you the same thing in a different colour for your birthday next month.”

“It’s beautiful Bill,” said Ginny, “I can’t wait to see mine!”

“You’re going to have to wait a few weeks I’m afraid Ginny,” chuckled Bill as he helped Beth on with her necklace.

Charlie had gotten her a new school bag.

“This is very special,” Charlie explained, “its got enchantments on it. Nobody but the owner can get in. No sneaky Slytherins can get to your books!”

“Not all Slytherins are sneaky,” giggled Beth.

“No but some of them are,” Charlie pointed out, “you need to keep your stuff safe.”

“Thanks Charlie,” beamed Beth.

“Right, me next,” said Percy passing her another box.

“This one also contains sweets, but don’t worry, none of them are trick sweets.”

Beth lifted the lid off the box and found a huge assortment of muggle sweets.

“Me and Pen went shopping for them last week, I know you don’t always like magical sweets.”

“Thanks Percy,” beamed Beth as she riffled through the huge box of sweets and put all the sweets from the rest of her friends in the box with them.

Ron, Ginny and Mr Weasley had been down to the muggle bookshop in town and had gotten her the complete works of Jane Austen and a copy of Jane Eyre.

“Ron tells me you like muggle books.”

“You know Dad will use any excuse to go socialise with the muggles,” said Ron shaking his head.

“They’re perfect,” beamed Beth, “thank you!”

Cedric had gotten Beth some new pencils.

“Those never run out,” Cedric explained, “they’re everlasting.”

“Cool!” beamed Beth.

“Can I go next?” asked Ted.

“Feel free Ted,” said Sirius as he passed Beth a small parcel.

“I didn’t know what to get you, but from what Dora’s told me you like old books, so you might like old shows. I used to watch these with my parents when they were first coming out.”

Beth opened the parcel and found two video tapes. One was labelled Little House on the Prairie and showed pioneer family on the front cover, and the other was labelled The Homecoming: A Christmas Story.

“I used to watch these every weekend with my parents, Little House on the Prairie and The Walton’s. They were a bit cheesy and too heart-warming for my taste, but it was a family tradition to watch them every week. I thought you might like to give them a go, these are the two pilot films.”

Sirius’ mouth had dropped open as if from shock.

“I used to watch them with my parents too,” chortled Remus, “they were Mum’s favourite shows.”

“I remember,” grumbled Sirius, “the sacrine sweetness of those shows still haunts me to this day.”

“Open these ones next!” said Andromeda passing Beth two large squashy parcels.

“What in the world?” she muttered prodding them slightly.

“Molly Dromeda and I got together to make you something for your new room,” explained Celia.

“Well go on open them,” prompted Molly.

Beth pulled the wrapping paper off of the first parcel and found a set of white bedsheets and pillowcases

She looked up at them all slightly confused.

“Turn them over dear,” chuckled Celia.

Beth turned over one of the pillowcases and found that they were covered in hexagons, that made up flowers. Each flower had a hexagon in the middle, and then six more for the petals. The flowers were made from quilting material, and all the flowers were in different shades of yellow.

She turned over the duvet cover, which was also covered in hexagon flowers, some bright gold with stars, some pale white with buttercups, others were sunshine yellow.

“Cedric and Ginny told us you liked flowers and your favourite colour was yellow,” explained Molly, “we thought you’d like some new sheets to go with your new room.”

“We all went through our scrap material cupboards and pooled together all our yellow fabrics.”

Beth was speechless as she looked intently at the tiny flowers.

“Do you like them?” asked Andromeda

“Thank you!” she cried jumping and giving them all a huge hug.

“They’re perfect I love them!”

There was a second parcel, which also had hexagon flower bedsheets, but these ones were every colour in the rainbow. Pale pinks and deep blues, grass greens and holly reds.

“One on and one in the wash,” explained Celia as she folded them away carefully.

“Those are amazing Mum,” exclaimed Ginny looking at Beth’s bedsheets.

“Could you teach me?”

“Ginevra Weasley,” sighed Molly, “I’ve been quilting since long before you were born, and I have been waiting for one of my children to show even the slightest interest in it, of course I’ll teach you!”

Tonks was the last person left before the presents from Remus and Sirius.

“Mine’s kind of a joint thing really,” shrugged Tonks, “it’s for you and Ginny.”

Ginny looked excited.

“I know your birthday is next month Ginny, and I know that teenage girls like to go shopping. But shopping with your mum can be a bit boring. So one day next month, I’m going to take you both out shopping, we’re going to have a girls day out.”

“Are you serious?” asked Ginny, who couldn’t believe that Tonks, who was the epitome of cool wanted to take her out shopping.

“No, I’m Sirius,” said Sirius. 

“Old joke Sirius,” said Andromeda shaking her head.

“It still works though,” beamed Sirius.

“If you bring either of those girls back home with any piercings, anywhere you are going to regret it Nymphadora!” said Andromeda firmly.

“Don’t call me Nymphadora!” glared Tonks, her hair changing to fire engine red.

“I mean it!”

“What’s she talking about Tonks?” asked Ginny.

Tonks beamed slightly and stuck out her tongue.

There was a small silver stud pierced into her tongue.

Andromeda looked disgusted, Ted merely smirked. 

“When’d you get it?” asked Fred.

“That is so cool!” nodded George.

“You’re so cool!” they both finished.

“It’s awesome!” agreed Ron.

“Can I get one Mum?”

“No!” said Molly, “you cannot get your tongue pierced Ginevra Weasley.”

“But it you behave yourself; I’ll take you to get your ears done before school starts.”

“Fair enough,” muttered Ginny.

“I thought I was the epitome of cool?” asked Bill looking slightly offended as he pulled at his fang earing.

“You were,” agreed Ginny.

“But then we met Sirius and Tonks,” shrugged Ron.

“You’re still the coolest out of the Weasley’s though,” smirked Percy.

“I’ll take it,” beamed Bill.

“Do you want to open the rest of the presents then Beth?” asked Remus.

“Sure!” she beamed.

“This first one is from both of us,” said Remus pulling a piece of parchment out of his pocket.

He looked at it slightly uncertainly before he handed it to Beth.

“I still can’t believe we know half of the Marauders,” said Fred.

“They say never meet your idols, but sometimes they’re actually really nice,” said George.

Sirius looked at Fred and George clearly impressed.

“You know what that is?”

“Of course we do oh great Padfoot,” said Fred as they both gave him a deep bow.

“Now the only reason I’m giving you this back is so that you can use it keep an eye out for anyone. It’s to keep you safe not to help you get into mischief.”

“So I’m meant to be using this and if I see a Tom Riddle wandering around run like there’s no tomorrow?”

“You’ve got it,” said Remus.

“This next one isn’t really for your protection as such Lilybeth, but you should have it, it’s your by right.”

Sirius passed her a brown paper wrapped parcel which contained a rectangular mirror.

“Not that I don’t need a mirror, but what’s so special about it?”

“That’s a two-way communication mirror,” explained Sirius, “I have the other one. This one used to belong to your father, if you say my name into your mirror you can see me and talk to me anytime.”

“Wow,” breathed Beth.

“That is so cool,” said Cedric.

“Those are really rare,” muttered Bill taking a look at the mirror, “I’ve heard of them but never seen one.”

“That must be way faster than communicating by owl post,” said Ginny, “and you get to see and hear each other.”

“We didn’t really know what to get you this year,” said Remus, “you’ve got so many books and things, so we wanted to get you something really useful.”

Sirius had gone behind the curtain to fetch a large trunk.

“We know you’ve already got a school trunk, but we also knew that you can’t take all your books with you.”

The trunk was made of a very pale white wood, and it was covered in strange markings.

Beth was tracing some of the markings on the trunk.

“Those are runes,” explained Remus, “they’re enchantments.”

“They mean that this trunk will only open to your touch,” said Sirius, “this trunk is also self-expanding, and has a permanent featherlight enchantment.”

“That is some trunk!” muttered Charlie.

“You can pack all your history books now rather than having to leave some behind,” said Percy.

“Oh Percy that reminds me,” said Beth suddenly remembering, “there’s some old History books in my room, they were Regulus’. You told me you were short on books on Goblin Rebellions, and the International Confederation of Wizards?”

“Hmmm,” he muttered, “History of Magic doesn’t cover them as thoroughly as I’d like.”

“Regulus has got a few on both,” said Beth, “I’ll go get them for you.”

Beth headed up to her room and came back down a few minutes later with half a dozen books.

“Thanks Beth!” he beamed, “these look great!”

“Right,” said Sirius, “now how wants to eat?”

Beth made sure to have a few sandwiches before diving in head first to all the cakes and biscuits.

Beth was eating her second portion of cake and the conversation finally turned to Quidditch.

It was hardly surprising; they’d been there two hours.

“So Ced do you think you’ll be made Quidditch captain now Llewelyn’s graduated?” asked Fred.

“I hope so,” beamed Cedric, “I want to keep that cup in Sprout’s office.”

“Who says you’re going to win again?” asked George.

“Actually boys, there isn’t going to be any Quidditch next year,” said Amos trying not to laugh.

“No Quidditch!” shouted Fred, George, Cedric, Ron and Ginny in outrage.

“Calm down!” said Arthur, “don’t start a riot! There is a perfectly valid reason.”

“How could anything be a valid reason for cancelling Quidditch,” grumbled Ginny.

“Oh I don’t know,” muttered Bill, “the Triwizard Tournament?”

“The Triwizard Tournament!” yelled Cedric and Ron.

“You’re joking!” exclaimed Fred and George.

“He’s not,” said Amos, “but they have put an age limit on it so most of you wont be able to enter.”

“That can’t be fair!” said Ron.

“It’s a very dangerous tournament Ron,” said Percy, “that’s why it was discontinued in the first place.”

“Would have been fun though I bet,” grumbled Ron.

“You’ll have to be of age by Halloween to enter,” said Amos.

“I’ll be seventeen by then!” exclaimed Cedric jumping up, “my birthdays on the sixth of September!”

“You going to try adding another title to your list Diggory?” asked Fred scowling slightly, their birthday wasn’t until April.

Cedric sank back into his seat and blushed profusely.

“Prefect,” agreed George.

“School Champion,” added Fred.

“Quidditch Captain,” nodded George.

“Head Boy,” they both finished.

“You’re just jealous,” said Ginny glaring at her brothers.

“Even if you were of age you wouldn’t get picked. Cedric never asked to be any of those things. Besides you’re just jealous of him because he’s a better flyer than you.”

“You’re right Gin,” muttered Fred.

“Sorry Ced,” said Fred and George both blushing.

“It’s alright,” shrugged Cedric.

“Besides if you do get made school champion, its better you than a Slytherin,” said Fred.

“It’s still going to be really weird no Quidditch this year,” sighed Cedric.

“Yeah,” they all nodded.

“Who wants to watch a film then?” asked Remus as they finished eating.

“Can we watch Holy Grail and Life of Brian?” asked Beth, “no of this lot saw them last year.”

“Ok Cariad,” said Remus giving her a huge hug, “I’ll put the tapes on.”

“Come here you,” said Sirius patting a space on the sofa between Remus and Sirius.

Beth giggled as she snuggled down between them on the sofa as the first film started.

Mr Weasley was fascinated, he had never seen a muggle television before let alone a video player.

After the first two films, Molly, Arthur, Celia, Amos, Andromeda and Ted all headed home. Everyone else was staying the night and they all rushed upstairs to fetch blankets and duvets.

Beth was sharing the quilt from her bed with Remus and Sirius, and Cedric and Tonks were curled up on the sofa next to them.

Somehow Cedric and Tonks had got on like a house on fire from the moment they first met. It wasn’t just a fascination in Quidditch they had in common either, they were both Hufflepuffs, and Tonks was introducing Cedric to muggle music, she was even taking him to a concert next month.

“Uncle Remus?” asked Beth after they had watched a tape of Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

“Can we watch the tapes Uncle Ted got me?”

“I think it’s your Uncle Sirius you should really be asking,” chortled Remus.

“If you end up liking those shows Lilybeth I will forgive you, but I won’t enjoy watching them.”

“You won’t know if she likes them or not until she tries them,” pointed out Bill as he loaded the pilot film for Little House on the Prairie into the videotape.

“One can only hope,” muttered Sirius settling back into the sofa and putting his arm around Beth and Remus.

Unfortunately for Sirius, Beth loved the show, she loved both of them. It put most of the others to sleep, firstly because they found them so boring, and secondly because they didn’t start watching the films until gone one o’clock in the morning.

Sirius had dropped off to sleep at some point during the first film, the only people still awake at the end of The Walton’s pilot film were Remus, who was enjoying the nostalgia from his youth, Beth who was fascinated by both films, and Percy.

Sirius woke up as the credits rolled on the second tape.

“Is it over?” he mumbled.

“I’ve got good news and bad news,” said Remus as Sirius woke up.

“The good news is the two tapes are over, the bad news is Beth loved them.”

“Oh Merlin,” muttered Sirius.

“They were amazing!” exclaimed Beth practically jumping up and down with excitement, “I just wish I could watch some of the actual shows.”

Remus chuckled slightly and left the room coming back ten minutes later, when everyone was slowly starting to wake up.

Remus came back downstairs carrying three huge cardboard boxes.

“Remus,” threatened Sirius leaping up from the sofa, “if you’ve got what I think you’ve got in those boxes, I swear I’ll leave you!”

“Don’t be so melodramatic Sirius,” chuckled Remus putting the boxes down.

“He thinks I’m joking,” muttered Sirius.

“What can be so bad about what’s in a few dusty cardboard boxes?” said Cedric drowsily as he and Tonks woke up.

“Well, I used to watch those shows every week with Mum and Dad,” said Remus, “but Mum loved them so much that watching them once a week wasn’t enough for her. So over the course of several years, she recorded the reruns onto the video tapes.”

“All 434 episodes,” grimaced Sirius.

“I knew there was a reason I kept these tapes all these years,” beamed Remus.

“207 episodes or Laura fucking Ingalls!” groaned Sirius.

“Nobodies making you watch them Sirius,” Remus pointed out.

“Think about it this way Siri,” said Remus, “imagine what your dear mother would have thought if she knew there was a television in this house?”

“You’ve got a point there,” muttered Sirius.

“You really like this heart-warming sacrine sweet stuff don’t you Beth?” 

Beth bit her lip slightly and nodded.

“Oh go on then,” sighed Sirius giving in “open up the vaults!”

Beth beamed as she rushed over to the boxes where there was over two hundred tapes marked everything from Little House on the Prairie Season 1 episodes 1+2 to The Walton’s Reunion Film 3.

“Remus, if I ever kill you in your sleep, you’ll know why.”


	13. Redheads Versus Brunettes

Sirius eventually found a way to put up with Little House on the Prairie.

It was quite easy really, all he had to do was to make fun of the parts that annoyed him. It was kind of like live theatre, whenever any of the characters did something stupid or annoying, he’d heckle them.

Remus just enjoyed watching them anyway, it reminded him of spending time with his parents. Beth loved watching them, not just because she liked the shows, but she liked spending time with her family too.

They were only in the second episode of the show when Sirius was introduced to the main antagonist, Mrs Oleson and her daughter Nellie.

“That fucking bitch!” yelled Sirius as Nellie teased one of the other children.

“Siri, she’s ten you can’t call a ten-year-old a bitch,” chuckled Remus.

“She’s nearly as bad as Malfoy,” giggled Beth.

“She’s worse than Malfoy,” growled Sirius shaking his head, “Malfoy’s just a git. That twit with the sausage curls is just a spiteful little bitch!”

“At least she doesn’t have a wand and she can’t do magic.”

“If she did, she’d be a deatheater for sure,” nodded Sirius.

A few days after her birthday was the night of the full moon, which was also known as the day that Beth stayed out of the way. Remus was tired, and Sirius was frantic with worry.

She was going round to the Weasley’s where they were making up for the lack of a Quidditch Cup that year by holding their own.

They had invited the Nightshades and were going to have a daylong Quidditch match.

Beth went around to the Burrow where the Weasley’s were all very excited for the match. Cedric was coming to help even the numbers, but unfortunately Tonks had to work.

The Nightshade’s and Cedric arrived at nine o’clock exactly with their broomsticks.

Beth was going to be the referee, she wasn’t particularly confident on a broom, but she could fly well enough and she knew a foul when she saw one.

There were six Weasley’s but only five Nightshades, so Cedric joined the Nightshade team to make up the numbers.

“I don’t see why I have to be here,” grumbled Henry, “I’ve got a paper due on Gamp’s Law.”

“Because brother, without you we’d been even more short,” said Peter.

“And once you actually get in the air and take your nose out of your book you’re really good,” said Nigel.

“Besides,” shrugged Nick, “you’ve been keeping for us since before I can remember.”

“I suppose it’s only one day,” muttered Henry.

“Ok gang,” said Bill who was the eldest, “we’re playing six aside, so no seekers. Cedric, you’re playing for the Nightshades alright?”

“Got it,” nodded Cedric.

“Ron you’re keeper, Fred and George, you’re the beaters, Ginny, Charlie and I are the chasers.”

“Perc,” said Charlie, “you help Beth with reffing but you’re our sub ok?”

“Ok,” nodded Percy.

“Right,” said Peter looking at his team, “Henry, you’re in goal, keep an eye on all three posts.”

“Nick, Nigel, do your thing,” Nick and Nigel picked up their beaters bats and smirked at each other.

“Cedric, do you think you could be a chaser, I know you’re usually a seeker.”

“I think so,” shrugged Cedric.

“Right, Artie and I can help you,” said Peter.

“Ok then, everyone who’s of age help put up the wards and then we’ll get the warm up done before we pull out the balls.”

Percy, Henry, Peter, Bill and Charlie all got out their wands and started to put up the protections. They didn’t want the balls to escape, and they didn’t want to muggles to see anything.

Nick and Nigel were chatting with Fred, George and Cedric.

It was a pretty close competition in the school over which team had the better beaters, the Nightshade twins in Ravenclaw, or the Weasley twins in Gryffindor. What made it worse was that Fred and George were in the same year as Nick and Nigel.

“So Cedric,” asked Nick.

“You going for school champion?” said Nigel.

“Yeah,” shrugged Cedric.

“We thought you might,” muttered Nick.

“Me and George aren’t old enough,” groaned Fred.

“Our birthday’s aren’t until April,” added George.

“29th of October,” beamed Nick.

“You’re kidding me!” exclaimed Fred.

“You two are old enough to enter?” asked George

“Yep!” nodded Nick and Nigel.

“Well at least if one of you three is picked the school will get a decent champion,” said George.

“We’re trying to figure out a way for us both to get picked,” said Nick grinning mischievously.

“Maybe me and Georgie can help you,” said Fred putting his arm around Nick and Nigel conspiratorially.

“This won’t end well,” sighed Cedric.

“Ok gang!” said Peter, “mount your brooms!”

They all took one lap of the pitch for a warmup and then Percy let out the game balls which hovered in front of Beth.

“Right, games called at four o’clock, you’ve got six and a half hours,” said Percy.

“Anyone who scores the most goals by then wins,” said Beth.

The teams were evenly matched. 

Fred and George, and Nick and Nigel worked like they shared brains with their twins and hit the bludgers back and forth furiously.

Ron and Henry were both very good at being keeper. Ron was just a tiny bit better though and saved a few more goals than Henry.

This was made up for though by how good the Nightshades were at being chasers. It was as if Cedric was born to play chaser, and Artie had been born on the broom, as for Peter, it wasn’t surprising that he was so good, he played professionally and was reserve chaser for England.

At just gone twelve o’clock, Molly called them down out of the air for lunch.

“What’s the score?” asked Molly as Percy landed.

“Two hundred and thirty to two hundred to the Nightshades.”

“They should have played you in that match against Transylvania Peter,” said Charlie, “we might have actually gotten through to the quarter finals that way.”

“It’s ok,” shrugged peter as he ate a sandwich, “I’m still young, there’ll be more World Cups.”

“You really should think about being a chaser Cedric,” said Bill, “you’re great at it.”

“I taught him everything he knows,” beamed Peter ruffling Cedric’s hair slightly.

“I’d agree with you Bill, but you haven’t seen Cedric after the snitch,” said Peter proudly, “he hasn’t missed it once.”

“Even in that match last year,” agreed Artie.

“And there were dementors flooding the pitch!” added Fred.

“You managed to catch the snitch even though the pitch was flooded with dementors?” asked Charlie incredulously.

Cedric blushed and picked at his sandwich.

“He’s going to play for England aren’t you Ced?”

“Well if you and Peter play for England in 1998 we won’t just make it through to the quarter finals, we’ll bloody win!” said Charlie.

“Thanks,” muttered Cedric.

“Hey do you remember the match in 86?” asked Bill.

“Remember it?” asked Henry.

“Final against Hungary, August the 19th 1986, I was eleven. Dad caught the snitch and won the match 170 to 130.”

“We were all there,” nodded Nick.

“Artie was only six,” said Nigel, “Dad pulled her on the back of his broom for the victory lap.”

“His moment of glory,” sighed Peter reminiscently.

“We’ve been listening to him on the wireless,” said Ginny, “he’s a great commentator.”

“It’s like we’re really there!” agreed Ron.

“Yeah David Nightshade is pretty cool,” said Fred.

“Almost as good as Lee,” said George.

“Now that is a compliment!” said Nick and Nigel.

“Let’s get back on those brooms and make him proud then,” said Peter, “we’ve got some Gryffindors to beat!”

It was a very close match; the final score was 510 to 490 to the Nightshades.

“Well done,” said Bill shaking Peter’s hand at the match.

“You put up a good fight,” said Peter shaking Bill’s hand.

“You guys going to the final?” asked Ron.

“Yeah, we’ve got really good seats,” said Artie.

“We’ll see you there then,” said Ginny.

Beth floed home and found Remus and Sirius in the kitchen waiting for her.

“Hi Cariad,” said Remus tiredly.

“Hi Uncle Remus,” beamed Beth giving him a hug.

“How was the match?” asked Sirius.

“Really good,” nodded Beth, “the Nightshades won, 510 to 490.”

“I bet you the Weasley’s were pleased with that,” chortled Sirius.

“It was so close that no one was really angry, it was a friendly to make up for all the matches they’re not getting this year.”

“Ah yes of course,” nodded Remus.

Beth headed upstairs after dinner and took a bath to wash her hair. She came back downstairs in her pyjamas and dressing gown bringing her duvet down with her. They were going to be trying something different tonight.

Remus was lying tiredly on the sofa waiting for the moon to rise.

Beth turned on the television and put the next tape of Little House on the Prairie on. Remus had been taking his Wolfsbane all week so he should be fine.

Sirius curled up next to Beth on the sofa.

After an episode or so, Remus began to transform. Next thing Beth knew, there was a wolf lying on the rug watching Little House on the Prairie. 

Beth curled up next to him and watched the show snuggling into Remus and leaning against Sirius’ legs.

By the time the sun rose the next morning, they had finished off the first season of the show.

“Morning Uncle Remus,” muttered Beth slightly drowsily as Remus woke up.

“What time is it?” grumbled Remus.

“Half-past five,” said Sirius.

“How do you feel,” asked Beth giving him a hug.

“Tired, but still better than usual,” he sighed.

“I think having the television on did help, stopped me from getting bored,” said Remus.


	14. Dancing Lessons

Beth was in the ballroom at Grimmauld place. This was the first time they were going to use it, it also had the family tapestry on the wall which they were all trying their hardest to ignore.

Sirius was in the middle of setting up the record player, as the whole Weasley family arrived along with the Nightshades, Cedric and Tonks.

“This place is so cool Beth,” exclaimed Artie.

“I’ll give you a tour later,” chuckled Beth.

Henry couldn’t come as he was working on an article for the prophet, and Amos was busy at working. Mr Nightshade was commentating on a match. But Celia, Molly and Mrs Nightshade had come.

Mrs Athena Nightshade was the editor of the Transfiguration column for the Daily Prophet and had light sandy brown hair. Her husband David’s was more of a dark chocolate. Peter their eldest and Henry had dark brown like their father, the twins Nick and Nigel had light brown hair slightly darker than their mother’s, and Artie their only daughter was somewhere in between the two almost a caramel. All seven of the Nightshades had eyes that danced like fires.

There was some chairs along the edge of the room. Peter, Henry, Bill and Charlie all settled into chairs with grins a mile wide on their faces.

Beth, Ginny, Artie, Ron, Nick, Nigel, Fred, George and Cedric were all gathered in the middle of the room looking slightly confused.

Artie put her hand firmly in the air.

“Yes Artemis?” asked Athena.

Artie glared at her mother.

“At least you’re not called Nymphadora,” chuckled Tonks with her arms folded against her chest.

Artie beamed at Tonks.

“Why do we have to learn to dance anyway?” she grumbled.

“Because of the Yule Ball,” said Athena, “it’s the school dance on Christmas night, it’s a tradition and part of the Triwizard Tournament.”

“There’s going to be a school dance!” squealed Ginny.

“Yes,” nodded Molly, “but you have to be a fourth year, or be invited by an older student.”

Ginny’s face fell.

“I’ll tell you what Gin,” said Artie looking over at her, “if nobody else asks you, you can come with me. You won’t even have to dance with me if you don’t want to.”

“But aren’t girls supposed to go with boys?” asked Ginny.

“I’m going to be going with Sus,” Beth pointed out.

“Ok then,” beamed Ginny.

“Thanks Artie,” beamed Ginny giving her a hug.

“Right then,” said Celia, “lets get you lot partnered up!”

Cedric went with Tonks, that was obvious. The rest got more complicated. There was five boys and three girls.

“Ron you partner up with Ginny,” said Molly.

Athena looked over at the two sets of twins.

“We’re two girls short,” she said nervously, “do you want to flip a coin, or does someone want to volunteer to dance with their twin brother?”

“Twin huddle!” said Nick.

Fred, George, Nick and Nigel gathered in a huddle and whispered for a few moments.

“We volunteer!” said Nick and Nigel.

“Why?” asked Athena suspiciously.

“Well, our birthdays are before the champions get chosen,” said Nick.

“So we have a chance to be school champion,” said Nigel.

“To make it up to them, we’re going to be the ones who have to dance together now,” finished Nick.

“That is very kind and logical boys,” beamed Athena.

“What do you expect?” asked Nick raising his eyebrows.

“We’re Ravenclaws!” they both chuckled.

“Right,” muttered Molly, “Beth, you go with George, Artie you’re with Fred.”

They started off by working on the correct holds.

“Your hands are supposed to be on her waist Cedric,” glowered Celia, “that’s higher than that.”

Cedric bit his lip and laughed slightly as he moved his hands back up to Tonks’ waist.

The second that Celia had moved on however, Tonks moved Cedric’s hands back onto her bottom.

George put his hands-on Beth’s waist. Beth was so short that George was at least two heads taller than her.

“You guys ready?” asked Percy as he stood by the record player.

“You bet!” called Sirius as he put his hands on Molly’s waist.

Percy started to play an old jazz record called Blue Moon.

The couples waltzed slowly around the room for an hour or so, and then learnt how to do some turns and lifts.

“I think they’re as ready as they’ll ever be,” sighed Molly flopping down into a chair.

“Ok,” chuckled Sirius, “you’ve done the boring stuff, now we really teach you lot how to dance.”

“Percy,” said Andromeda, “put on the album labelled twist.”

“Ok, that doesn’t sound ominous at all,” muttered Percy putting on the record.

“Right you lazy lot,” said Athena looking over at the four boys who had been lounging, “it’s getting serious!”

Beth’s mouth dropped open as the first song came onto the album.

A song called The Twist by Chubby Checker came on, and Celia, Molly, Athena, Andromeda and Remus lost all their decorum, Sirius had never had any in the first place. They were all gyrating around the ballroom, swivelling their hips and twisting around the room like there was no tomorrow. 

By the end of the first song Beth had joined in Remus was teaching Artie Ron and Ginny how to do The Twist.

“Ok,” said Remus, “now what you’ve got to do is just let loose.”

“Let loose?” asked Ron raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah, just shake it all out and let loose.”

“Now you swivel your hips,” he explained.

“You what?” giggled Ginny.

“Remus how do you even know this?” giggled Beth.

“Muggle cousins,” chuckled Remus.

“Ok, now keep your hips going and move your feet.”

“How?”

“You twist them,” he chuckled, “you twist your way around the floor.”

There was a lot of giggling and laughing but they worked way around the floor slowly. 

After The Beatles Twist and Shout, Percy changed the record again.

“Ok let’s do some specialities which one first the Hand jive or the Locomotion?” asked Andromeda.

“How do you lot know all this?” chortled Peter.

“Mainly Lily, Ted and other muggle borns,” shrugged Sirius.

They learnt the hand jive first and then the Locomotion.

“Ok that’s enough of the sixties,” said Celia changing the record.

“Oh you got the YMCA?” asked Tonks, “I remember some Muggle Borns playing that a few years back.”

“You’re going having to teach us Tonks,” said Sirius.

By the end of the afternoon they had learnt how to do the Twist, the Hippy Hippy Shake, the hand jive, the Locomotion, they YMCA and goodness knows what else.

They were all exhausted, but Beth hadn’t had so much fun in as long as she could remember.

A few days later Tonks, Beth and Ginny all went shopping in Muggle London.

Beth was wearing a pair of jeans and a jumper as it was cold but not cold enough for a coat.

The school list had asked for dress robes, but muggle dresses were a lot less formal than dress robes. Also most dress robes were a bit too mature and boring for teenagers.

Beth’s dress was floaty and fell to just below the knee and was a silvery blue. It was the exact same shade as her eyes also there was only one layer of petticoat under the dress, so she wasn’t weighed down by layer upon layer of dress.

Ginny’s dress was a dark purple material that shimmered. Her birthday was in a few days, so she was getting the dress for her birthday.


	15. The Dream

She was walking along a dark passageway, in an old house. The floorboards creaked under her feet as she walked. There was a tiny light shining from the end of the corridor.

Beth stopped outside the door and watched nervously the scene from within, through the crack in the door.

“There is still some in the bottle my Lord,” said a raspy voice but still clearly a woman’s.

“Later Alecto,” replied a high-pitched voice but male this time, “Amycus move me closer to the fire!”

“Yes Master,” replied a different raspy voice.

Beth had never heard of any Alecto’s or Amycus’ but she had a feeling she recognised that third voice. It gave her shivers down the back of her spine.

She listened carefully as they discussed the Quidditch World Cup and someone called Bertha Jorkins.

Then they started to talk about something much more different.

“Why not just kill her now?” spat Amycus.

“Because she is too well protected you fool!” whispered Voldemort his voice full of menace.

“But not for long,” whispered Voldemort, his voice full of excitement now.

“She won’t be so protected when she gets back to school.”

“That old fool Dumbledore’s not going to know what’s hit him,” cackled Alecto.

“If all goes to plan,” continued Voldemort as if there had been no interruption, “by the end of the school year Elizabeth shall be dead, and I shall have returned to my body.”

Beth heard a loud rustling and looked down at her feet where there has a huge snake slithering past her feet.

“What is that Nagini?” asked Voldemort interested, “she says there is an old muggle who has been listening to everything we say.”

“Well go on Alecto, invite him inside.”

The door was opened further and she could see the whole scene. But fortunately Voldemort couldn’t see her.

Then Beth looked over to the armchair and saw what Voldemort had come to. He wasn’t a baby, he was far too disgusting to be a baby.

“So muggle you saw the whole thing?”

“What’s that your calling me a muggle is it?” asked a gruff voice. Beth didn’t know who that belonged to, she supposed it might be the muggle.

“Your planning murder, I’m going to call the police, my wife knows I’m here!”

“You don’t have a wife,” said Voldemort simply, “and you won’t call the police because you will be dead before you get the chance.”

“Avada Kedravra,” said Voldemort somewhat lazily pointing his wand at Beth’s heart.

There was a flash of green light and there was a dead body on the floor.

Beth woke up and was promptly sick all over the bedsheets. Her scar was hurting so much she thought she might die from the pain!

“Uncle Remus!” she sobbed, “Uncle Sirius!!”

“Hey,” said Remus rushing into the room led by Guinevere, “what’s up?”

“Uncle Remus,” she sobbed clinging onto him as he sat down next to her.

Remus vanished the sick from the bedsheets as he sat down.

“Shhh,” he muttered holding her close.

“You’re burning up,” he exclaimed checking her forehead.

“Everything alright Remi?” asked Sirius standing in the doorway.

“I don’t what’s wrong with her,” sighed Remus as he tried to soothe her, “I think she might be sick again.”

“Voldemort,” Beth mumbled as she sobbed, “Voldemort.”

“What’s that old bastard been up to this time?” groaned Sirius sitting down on the bed.

“He killed an old muggle,” she mumbled.

“It was just a nightmare Lilybeth, you’re ok now.”

“No it wasn’t a nightmare,” she muttered clutching at her scar, “nightmares don’t make my scar hurt.”

“Hmmm,” said Remus checking her forehead again.

“That might be why you’ve got the temperature and the nausea.”

“Siri, can you go see if there’s any pain relievers in the bathroom cupboard?”

“Sure,” said Sirius getting up off the bed.

“I’ll just be a minute Lilybeth,” he said brushing her fringe off her sweaty brow as he got up to leave.

“It’s ok Cariad,” said Remus gently rocking her back and forth, “we’re right here, Voldemort can’t get to you.”

“Hmmm,” she muttered as the tears started to subside.

“Here you go Remus,” said Sirius passing him a bottle of pain killer.

“Right then you,” said Sirius pouring out a tablespoon of potion, “I want you to drink this, and I don’t want any complaints.”

Beth nodded and took the spoon from Sirius before gulping down the potion.

“That’s my girl,” said Sirius ruffling her hair.

“Feeling better?” asked Remus.

“A bit,” she muttered.

“Why don’t we come through to out room and talk,” asked Sirius, “we’ve got a bigger bed, more space for cuddles.”

“Ok,” said Beth giggling slightly.

Remus picked up one of her quilts and carried it through to his and Sirius’ room.

Beth snuggled between Remus and Sirius on the bed and they all snuggled down under the quilt.

“Right then,” said Sirius, “what’s the old bastard been up to this time?”

Remus glared at Sirius slightly.

“What about what I just said is I lie?” asked Sirius, “he’s seventy if he’s a day and he is a bastard.”

“He was planning something,” muttered Beth.

“He was talking to some people, Alecto and Amycus.”

“Carrows,” nodded Remus, “deatheaters.”

“Do you remember what they were talking about Lilybeth?” asked Sirius.

“The World Cup, and a woman named Bertha Jorkins.”

“Was there anything else little one?”

Beth shook her head frantically.

“Sweetheart,” sighed Remus, “I know you’re scared, but we need to know.”

Beth took a shuddering breath.

“They were planning a murder,” she mumbled.

“My murder.”

“What?” growled Sirius.

“He said that by the end of the year, I’d be dead and he’d have his body back.”

Beth was shaking now.

“Don’t worry Cariad it’s alright,” soothed Remus pulling her in close.

“He’s going to kill me,” she sobbed.

“He’ll have to get through us first!” spat Sirius his eyes full of anger.


	16. The Match

“Kreacher,” asked Beth kneeling down slightly, “can you take good care of Gwen for me?”

“Of course mistress!” said Kreacher beaming.

“We’ll be back tomorrow ok Gwen?” asked Beth picking Guinevere up.

“Meow!”

“You do know that that cat can’t understand you?” asked Cedric.

“Gwen can understand me!” said Beth firmly, “and she’s not a cat she’s a kneazle!”

“What’s the difference?” asked Cedric.

“Gwen here can come fetch me if she has a nightmare and guards her bedroom door whilst she’s asleep.”

“Sounds pretty handy,” said Amos clearly impressed.

It was five o’clock in the morning, and they all had to flo over to the Leaky Cauldron to get the portkey to the cup.

“I can’t believe we’re actually going to get to see Krum,” muttered Cedric, “I wish I was half as good as him.”

“He’s an international standard Quidditch player Ced,” chuckled Amos, “don’t worry you’ll get there.”

“He’s the best seeker in the world,” he exclaimed, “and he’s only a year older than me!”

“You’ll catch up Ced,” shrugged Beth.

“Besides,” said Sirius, “you’re much better looking!”

“Thanks Sirius,” chuckled Cedric.

“Right, one large tent, five bags,” said Remus checking all the luggage.

“Tickets,” he muttered pulling out the parchment, “muggle money.”

“We’ve got everything Remus,” sighed Sirius, “stop worrying, we’re only going for one night!”

“Right, right,” muttered Remus.

Beth floed over to the Leaky Cauldron with her backpack, closely followed by Cedric, Remus, Sirius and Amos.

“You lot the five fifteen?” asked Tom the barkeeper.

“Yes,” nodded Sirius.

“Here you go,” said Tom handing them an old newspaper out of a box of portkeys.

“It leaves in one minute.”

“Ok gang,” said Sirius, “everyone hold on tight!”

They all crowded around the newspaper and took hold of it.

“One,” said Amos watching his watch, “two, three!”

Beth felt as if she had been grabbed by the neck by a fishhook. She was whirling through time and space, she felt so dizzy.

They landed in the middle of a field as the sun began to rise. Everyone landed gracefully, on their feet even Cedric, but Beth was sprawled out in the grass covered in mud.

“You ok Cariad?” asked Remus helping Beth of the ground.

“I’m a bit dizzy but I’m fine.”

“I was sick the first time I used one of those,” said Cedric grimacing.

“It’s worse than apparating,” grumbled Beth.

“Yes,” nodded Amos, “but it’s much easier for travelling in a group of underage wizards if you use a portkey.”

They had all been told to dress in muggle dress, so they were wearing jeans and t shirts. Cedric and Beth were used to dressing in muggle clothes anyway and Remus and Sirius hardly ever wore wizard robes. But Amos had had to check with Cedric that he was dressed properly before they left.

Amos was certainly much but dressed than the wizards at the welcome desk who were wearing kilts with golfing jumpers.

They headed over to Mr Roberts field.

“Good morning,” said Remus shaking Mr Roberts’ hand.

“Morning,” nodded Mr Roberts who looked slightly dazed.

“We should be under Sirius Black,” Sirius told him.

“Strange name,” muttered Mr Roberts, “just the one night?”

“Yes,” nodded Remus getting out the muggle money.

“Aye, that will be thirty pounds.”

“Thank you,” said Remus passing him a twenty and a ten pound note.

They headed over to the campsite and passed the Weasley’s on the way. Their tent was right next to the Nightshades’.

“Hey Ced!” called Nick and Nigel.

It was only half past five in the morning, but Nick and Nigel were so excited for the match they were already awake.

“Hey Nick, hi Nigel!” said Cedric patting them both on the hug.

“How long you lot been here?”

“Two days,” shrugged Nick.

“It’s been fascinating though, all the different nationalities,” said Nigel.

“Why don’t you four go get us some water, whilst we set up the tent?” suggested Amos.

“Ok Dad,” said Cedric taking the bucket.

Beth left her backpack behind and skipped along next to the boys as they all went to go get water.

“So, who do you thinks going to win?” asked Cedric.

“Ireland,” beamed Nick and Nigel.

“What about Krum,” said Cedric, “he’s the best seeker in the world!”

“You put too much importance on the seeker Cedric,” said Nick shaking his head.

“A seeker is important,” agreed Nigel, “but they aren’t the only member on the team.”

“I know that,” shrugged Cedric, “but 150 points is a hell of a lot, and Krum is one amazing seeker.”

“He is pretty good I’ll give you that,” admitted Nick.

“But Ireland’s still going to win,” they both finished.

Eventually after about fifteen minutes of walking through tents they reached the water pump where there was a short queue forming. Fred and George Weasley were just ahead of them.

“Hey Fred, George,” beamed Cedric.

“Ced, and the deadly Nightshade twins,” said Fred beaming.

“Hey Fred,” chuckled Nigel.

“We’ve been trying out those sweets you gave us, we think we’ve improved the antidote.”

“Seriously?” asked George impressed.

“Yep, the fever fudge now wears off straight away rather than taking half an hour if you take the antidote,” shrugged Nick.

“That reminds me we took a look at those trick wands you gave us,” said Nigel.

“They now also let off streams of bubbles rather than sparks.”

“Not really dangerous, more annoying than anything,” shrugged Nigel.

“We thought they might be good for opening up the toy market,” finished Nick.

Fred and George looked at each other slightly confused.

“Twin huddle!” said Fred and George.

Fred, George, Nick and Nigel all gathered in a group and whispered for a few moments.

“They do know it’s really annoying when they do that?” asked Cedric.

“I think that’s half the point,” giggled Beth.

“Welcome to the business!” said Fred and George shaking Nick and Nigel’s hands.

“Thanks,” chuckled Nick and Nigel.

Soon after that the line began to move, and soon they had collected three buckets of water between them.

Beth carried their bucket of water as they started to head back to the field. The topic of conversation had moved back to Quidditch yet again.

“I’ve got an idea,” said Beth quietly.

“What is it Beth?” asked Cedric turning around.

“Well you’ve already got the children’s market with the bubble wands, and you’re all obsessed with Quidditch. There are already child sized brooms, but there aren’t really any Quidditch sets safe for children to use.”

“What you mean like bludgers and quaffles for kids?” asked Nick.

“And snitches,” said Cedric, “don’t forget the snitches.”

“It’s worth a thought,” considered Fred.

“We’ll put our heads together,” said Nick.

“I thought they already were?” asked Cedric.

“You’re just jealous Diggory,” smirked Fred.

“Because you don’t have a twin,” agreed Nigel.

“Why would I be jealous of you lot?” asked Cedric.

“See you later Gred!” called Nick as they passed the Weasley tent.

“Bye Forge,” finished Nigel.

“I’ve got a riddle for you Beth,” asked Henry as he came to help her with her bucket of water.

“What?” giggled Beth.

“What’s worse than a set of identical twins?”

“I don’t know,” she giggled.

“Two sets,” muttered Henry, “there’s so much mischief going on it’s scary!”

“They’re not that bad,” giggled Beth.

“Have you tried living with Nick and Nigel?” he asked raising his eyebrows.

“Fred and George are bad enough on their own, but the problem is Nick and Nigel are very bright. They’ve been using their brains to improve Fred and George’s products.”

When they got over to their tent, Sirius and Amos had just finished putting the tent up by hand, and Remus had built the fire.

The rest of the Nightshades had woken up too, Remus was trying to show David how to build a fire without any magic.

“Dad there’s someone that we want you to meet,” said Nick.

Nick and Nigel both had their arms around Cedric.

“This is Cedric,” they both said.

“So you must be Cedric Diggory,” chuckled David as he finished lighting the fire.

“I have been hearing about you for as long as I can remember,” he said shaking his head.

Cedric’s mouth dropped open, David Nightshade, the David Nightshade. Ex England Seeker who had won them the World Cup in 1986, had heard of him?

“You,” stammered Cedric, “you know who I am?”

“Of course, I ruddy well do,” laughed David, “Pete told me all about you six years ago, said he’d never seen such raw talent! All the kids talk about you, it’s Cedric this, Cedric that.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you at last son,” laughed David shaking Cedric’s hand.

“Thank you,” stammered Cedric nervously.

“Peter tells me you want to play professionally in a few years? I’ll have to see about getting you some trials.”

“Thank you,” stammered Cedric shaking his hand frantically, “thank you very much!”

“Stop stammering Ced,” muttered Nick rolling his eyebrows.

“It’s just Dad,” agreed Nigel.

“And this is Beth,” said Artie.

“Hi Beth,” said David, “you looking forward to the match?”

Beth shrugged.

“Quidditch is ok, I like watching it sometimes, but I don’t play of anything.”

“Well it’s not for everyone,” he said jovially.

Beth sat down in the grass by the fire as she cooked the breakfast. Remus could make the fire fine, but he was a terrible cook.

Between Sirius Black, Beth Potter the Girl Who Lived and the legendary David Nightshade their two campfires were some of the busiest at the whole cup. People kept on popping by to bet autographs from David or to shake Sirius’ hand.

Some people just stared transfixed at Beth. She had got used to having people staring at her, but it still creeped her out more than slightly, especially as they were all fascinated by her for something she couldn’t even remember doing.

It wasn’t just fans though; it was also ministry wizards.

A round wizard in black and yellow robes called Ludo Bagman stayed for half an hour exchanging old Quidditch stories with David. David had been doing the commentating for the rest of the matches, but tonight Ludo was going to be commentating for the final.

After a while Beth ended up getting out her sketchbook and started sketching things and people. The vendors selling their wares, Remus stoking the fire.

Beth was just finishing a picture of Cedric who was sharing a joke with Nick and Nigel.

“Beth Cariad,” said Remus putting out the fire, “it’s nearly time for the match!”

They all painted each other’s faces with green paint. The boys had stripes like war paint, and Artie and Beth both had shamrocks. The only one who wasn’t wearing green paint was Cedric, who was waving a Bulgarian flag and had Krum written down one side of his face in scarlet paint.

“You’re a traitor Cedric!” growled Nick and Nigel.

“We’re not Irish, we’re English,” Cedric pointed out, “and Krum’s the better seeker.”

“He’s got a point boys,” said David as they headed over to the stadium.

The path down to the stadium was crowded fit to bursting.

“Come here Lilybeth!” said Sirius.

Sirius put his arm around her, and they all chatted excitedly on the way to the stadium.

Beth practically skipped down the path. As they reached the front of the crowd Tonks was there patrolling the stadium with her wand out, in case any dark wizards tried to do anything stupid.

“Hey Nym!” beamed Cedric.

“Cedric!” said Tonks giving Cedric a kiss.

“How goes the patrol duty?” smirked Sirius.

“Dull as ditch water,” groaned Tonks, “I almost wish there were some dark wizards here, make my job more exciting.”

“I hope you don’t mean that Tonks?” asked Amos.

“No of course not Amos,” chuckled Tonks, “it’s just this is a little bit boring.”

“Hmmm,” muttered Amos, “well if any dark wizards do show up, I hope you catch them.”

“Don’t worry I will,” she said ominously playing with her wand.

“See you later Nym,” said Cedric giving Tonks a quick hug as they headed into the stadium.

They climbed what felt like hundreds of stairs, almost all the way to the top, until they reached five seats.

Beth sat down between Remus and Sirius and watched as the stadium filled around her. Everyone was jabbering away excitedly in different languages eager for the match to start. A fair number of people were pointing excitedly at her or Sirius, but she was so excited herself she just didn’t mind.

Suddenly all the chattering stopped as Ludo Bagman’s voice swam through the stadium. There were loud cheers as the leprechauns and the veela came into the stadium.

“Don’t bother picking that stuff up Ced,” chuckled Amos, “that’s leprechaun gold, it’ll be gone in a few hours.”

“Thanks Dad,” beamed Cedric sitting back down in his seat.

Then the players came flying onto the pitch. 

“Krum!” breathed Cedric leaning over the rail so he could see him even better.

So this was Victor Krum, he was slightly stockier than Cedric but was graceful as an eagle on his broom. Beth could see why Cedric was so obsessed.

Cedric found himself following Krum with his omnioculors for the whole match.

“Did you see that?” asked Cedric as Krum did the Vronsky Faint for the first time. 

“I’ve never seen anything like it!”

Cedric had been right; Krum was the better seeker. Ireland won the match, but Krum still caught the snitch.

Sirius lifted Beth up on his shoulders as they walked out of the stadium. When they got back to the tent, Nick, Nigel and Artie were doing some kind of war dance around their fire.

“I still can’t believe how amazing Krum was,” muttered Cedric.

“Will you shut up about bloody Krum Ced,” groaned Nick.

“They didn’t even win the match,” agreed Nigel.

“He made the best out of a bad game,” said David as he put the kettle on.

That seemed to be the end of the argument.

Remus put the kettle on over the fire and Beth sat down next to Cedric who was still going on about Krum.

“I wish I could do a Vronsky faint,” sighed Cedric as he drank his hot chocolate.

Beth had fallen asleep on Cedric’s shoulder.

“I’ll get her,” chuckled Remus picking her up gently and carrying her through to the tent.

“What’s going on?” muttered Beth as Remus tucked her in to one of the camp beds.

“You’re getting some sleep is what’s going on young lady,” he said kissing her on the forehead before leaving the tent.

Beth snuggled down good and tight under the blankets and feel asleep almost instantly.

Not long after that Sirius was shaking her awake.

“Wake up Beth!” Sirius shouted frantically.

“What’s the matter?” she mumbled.

“There’s a riot,” said Remus passing her her cloak and trainers.

“You got your wand?” asked Remus as he did up her cloak over her pyjamas.

“Right here,” said Beth showing him her wand.

“Come on then!” said Sirius pulling them both out of the tent.

It was chaos, there were tents on fire and people screaming at the top of their lungs, there were groups of wizards disapparating left right and centre, and there was a group of wizards with hoods who seemed to be levitating a couple of muggles and laughing.

“Fucking hell!” muttered Sirius.

Remus pulled up Beth’s hood over her head.

Cedric and Amos came running out of the tent after them, both with their wands out and cloaks on over their pyjamas.

“Remus,” Beth mumbled, “why is everyone so scared of those wizards in the hoods?”

“They’re deatheaters Beth,” muttered Remus nervously as he put her hood on properly.

“Supporters of Voldemort,” added Sirius.

“Beth,” said Remus gently, “you stick with Cedric, alright? Keep your hood up and don’t let go of Cedric’s hand.”

“You two run for the woods,” said Sirius, “come back when it’s all over.”

Sirius and Remus ran towards the crowd of deatheaters with their wands drawn.

“Dad!” said Cedric frantically.

“I want to help!” he pleaded, “I don’t want to go hide in the woods!”

“You’re not of age Cedric!” shouted Amos.

“Only two weeks!” Cedric protested.

“Cedric!” said Amos firmly, “those are fucking deatheaters! They’ll torture you, and they’d kill Beth as soon as look at her!”

Cedric looked down at Beth who was trying to hide under her hood.

“Now get to the woods!” Amos shouted as he ran towards the deatheaters.

“Come on Beth!” said Cedric taking her hand with one hand and holding out his wand with the other.

They sprinted towards the wood as fast as their legs could carry them, running past groups of other underaged wizards, and young families with crying children.

Cedric and Beth both kept on running until they were completely out of breath and had reached a clearing.

“You ok Beth?” asked Cedric catching his breath back.

“Yeah I think so,” she muttered.

“Get down!” shouted Cedric as he saw someone moving in the shadows.

They both crouched down in the dark where the man couldn’t see them.

The man walked into the middle of the clearing, standing mere metres away from Beth.

He was a youngish looking wizard with sandy brown hair.

He pointed his wand up at the sky.

“Mosmordre!” he called pointing his wand up at the sky, grinning maniacally.

Beth had to try and stop herself from crying out in shock as she saw the dark mark appear in the sky shining above them emerald green.

The wizard smirked slightly and ran from the clearing.

“We’ve got to get out of here Beth,” said Cedric getting up and trying to drag Beth away from the clearing.

But it was too late.

There was the sound of a dozen wizards apparating to the clearing.

“Get down!” shouted Cedric pushing Beth back down to the grass.

“Stupefy!” screamed the wizards. 

A dozen jets of red light were aimed haphazardly around the clearing and one of them hit Beth in the chest.

“Stop!” yelled Cedric.

“Ced?” asked Amos slightly confused shining his wand in their general direction.

“I think she’s unconscious,” said Cedric nervously.

“I’m sure she’s fine Ced,” said Amos.

“Who are you and why did you conjure the dark mark?” spat a wizard who was wearing a pinstriped suit.

“Cedric Diggory,” said Cedric standing up, “and that kid you just stupefied was Beth Potter.”

One of the witches ran over to check under Beth’s hood.

“Merlin he’s right Barty,” muttered the witch, “that is Elizabeth Potter.”

“Why did you conjure the dark mark?”

“Have some sense Barty,” sighed Arthur, “they’re just kids, they don’t know how to, especially not Beth Potter.”

“What happened Ced?” asked Amos.

“Well we were running away from the deatheaters,” explained Cedric, “you told us to run into the woods. We ran until we reached this clearing and then I heard someone moving so we both got down in the grass. A man walked out of the shadows, cast a spell and then left.”

“Where did they go?” asked Mr Crouch bluntly.

“That way,” said Cedric pointing towards the bushes.

Amos walked over to the bushes and came back with an unconscious house elf.

“She’s even got a wand,” said Amos taking the wand from the elf.

“That’s my elf!” exclaimed Barty.

“And that’s Ginny’s wand!” shouted Arthur.

“What are you talking about Arthur?” asked a witch.

“She lost her wand, at the match, that house elf had it.”

“Renervarte,” said Amos pointing his wand at the house elf.

The house elf looked up at the sky and stammered.

“Winky didn’t do it, Winky isn’t knowing how!”

“Where did you get this wand Winky?” spat Barty.

“Winky found it,” she muttered.

“You have stolen a witches wand, and you have disobeyed orders, I told you to stay in the tent.”

“This means clothes,” growled Barty taking off his tie and throwing it at Winky.

The rest of the wizards left the clearing to help sort out the mess from the riot.

“Dad,” Cedric pointed out, “Beth.”

“Oh yes of course,” said Amos kneeling down.

“Renervarte!” he said gently pointing his wand at Beth.

Beth opened her eyes and looked around woozily.

“How do you feel Beth?”

“Tired,” she mumbled.

“I’m not surprised,” he chuckled, “you took at least two stunners straight to the chest.”

“Does your chest hurt Beth?”

“A little but not much,” she muttered.

“Come on you two,” said Amos picking Beth up, “Remus and Sirius will be panicking like mad.”

Amos carried Beth and Cedric came behind them.

As they got to the edge of the woods, Sirius was having to restrain Remus.

“I’ve got to go find her!” yelled Remus, “she could be dead!”

“She’ll be fine Remi,” said Sirius gently.

“Everyone else got back half an hour ago,” shouted Remus, “where the hell are they.”

“We’re over here Remus,” said Amos as he came out of the woods carrying Beth.

“Beth!” sighed Remus rushing over.

“Are you alright Cariad?” he asked taking her from Amos

“Mmm,” she mumbled.

“She took some stunners to the chest,” Amos explained as they walked back to the tent.

“See Remi,” chuckled Sirius, “she’s fine!”

They somehow managed to get a portkey back to the Leaky Cauldron half an hour later, and then Remus put a very drowsy Beth to bed, where she slept all day.


	17. Got to Get Back To Hogwarts

It felt strange not to have to rush on the first day of term. Beth instinctively woke up at six o’clock and thought they were going to be late, only to remember it was only a half an hour drive to the station. Even if they left at half past nine, they’d still be early.

She double checked that she’d packed all her books, including every last one of her History textbooks. She was taking full advantage of her new trunk to pack absolutely everything she could.

She even managed to find space for her quilt that she’d made over the Summer.

She pulled on her uniform but left her robes in her satchel to put on later.

Breakfast was already on the table.

“Kreacher has made cheese and ham omelettes,” nodded Kreacher, “he has also packed you some lunch for the train.”

“Kreacher, you’re a gem,” said Beth giving him a huge hug as she sat down.

Kreacher blushed slightly as Beth tucked into her breakfast ravenously.

“You got your map Beth?” 

“Yes,” nodded Beth.

“And if I hear that a certain group of twins have borrowed that to try and replicate it,” he muttered.

“Remus, Fred and George already know the map back to front, if they want to make a version, they don’t need any help from me!”

Sirius sniggered into his breakfast.

“You got the mirror Lilybeth?”

“Yes Uncle Sirius.”

“Good, now you make sure you use them,” said Remus, “if there’s anything wrong you just ring.”

“Anything from Malfoy being a prat, to too much homework,” said Sirius, “you ring us.”

“Yes Uncle Sirius,” giggled Beth.

“And keep a especially close eye on your defence teacher,” said Sirius, “spy on them if you have to!”

“Spy on my defence teacher, that seems a bit ridiculous.”

“Just be careful alright Cariad?”

“I always am careful,” Beth pointed out.

“That’s my girl,” beamed Sirius ruffling her hair slightly again.

“Do you need some help with your trunk little one?”

“No,” said Beth getting up, “I can manage.”

Beth carried her new trunk, and Guinevere’s cat basket down the stairs.

Sirius helped her load everything into the boot and they got in the car to drive to the station.

“Uncle Remus?”

“Yes sweetheart?”

“Do you know who the new defence teacher’s going to be?”

“No dear I don’t, I only signed a one-year contract, the Macmillan’s are going to need me back for tutoring now Tricia’s maternity leave is over.”

“I can’t believe Ernie’s got a little sister,” exclaimed Beth.

“I can’t believe that Tim’s a big brother,” muttered Remus.

“He’s going to be starting at Hogwarts next year,” Beth giggled.

They got to the platform at only just gone ten o’clock.

Ernie was there with his parents, his little brother Tim who had just turned ten and his baby sister who was six months old.

“Hi Ernie!” beamed Beth giving Ernie a hug.

“Hey Beth,” chuckled Ernie, “this is my baby sister.”

Ernie picked up his little sister who was wrapped up in pink blankets.

“Her names Lizzie,” he explained kissing his little sister on the forehead.

“You named her after me?” asked Beth incredulously looking at Mr and Mrs Macmillan.

“Well Elizabeth is a pretty name,” said Mr Macmillan.

“And we let Ernie name her, it was probably going to be either Elizabeth or Susan.”

“She’s so cute,” giggled Beth as Lizzie gripped onto Beth’s finger.

“She is pretty adorable,” nodded Remus.

“Why does everyone keep fussing over Lizzie?” grumbled Tim.

“She’s nothing all that special.”

“I seem to remember we fussed over you a fair amount when you were born,” said Mr Macmillan.

“We should go find ourselves a compartment,” chuckled Ernie putting his arm around Beth.

“Bye bye Lizzie,” said Beth putting Lizzie back in her pram.

Beth and Ernie loaded their trunks and pets into one of compartments.

“Bye Remus, bye Sirius!” called Beth leaning out the window.

“Bye Cariad!”

“Have a good year Lilybeth!”

They had hardly got their trunks in the overhead compartment when the door slammed open.

“Beth!” screamed Susan.

“Hi Sus,” giggled Beth getting down from standing on top of the seat.

Susan had had a growth spurt over the Summer. 

She had always been taller than Beth, but now she was taller than Ernie. Beth hadn’t quite reached five foot yet, but Susan was now nearly six foot tall.

Beth and Susan both had red hair, but whereas Susan’s was dark red, and she wore hers in one plait, Beth’s had more brown to it and was more of a copper. Beth was also a lot skinnier than Susan.

“You’ve got to stop growing Sus,” giggled Beth as she tried to go on her tiptoes to kiss her girlfriend.

“And you’ve got to start,” sniggered Ernie.

“Leave off Ernie,” muttered Susan as she put her trunk in the overhead compartment.

“Hi Di Hi gang!” called Justin poking his head around the door.

“Justin!” cried Ernie patting Justin on the back.

“You alright mate?”

“Yeah I’m fine,” sighed Ernie, “I just missed you.”

“Where have you been all Summer?”

“Doing the tour of the relatives,” groaned Ernie, “showing off little Lizzie, there are Macmillan’s all over Europe.”

“Did any of you lot make it the World Cup?” asked Susan.

“We were at the final,” nodded Beth.

“Oh Merlin were you alright?” panicked Susan gripping onto Beth’s shoulder nervously.

“I’m here aren’t I?” giggled Beth.

“What happened at the final?” asked Justin.

“There was a riot after the match,” said Ernie shaking his head.

“Seems like wizarding and muggle world aren’t so different after all,” chortled Justin, “a riot at a sports match is perfectly normal.”

“A deatheater riot Just,” muttered Ernie.

“Ah,” muttered Justin, nodding nervously, “now that different.”  
“I thought all the deatheaters were supposed to be in Azkaban?” asked Justin confused.

“But the ministry’s shit,” said Ernie.

“Hey!” protested Susan, “my family work for that ministry!”

“And my dad’s an auror,” shrugged Ernie, “but the ministry are terrible at catching deatheaters.”

“He’s right,” sighed Beth pulling at one of her plaits, “up until six months ago, everyone thought Sirius was a deatheater, even Remus, it turns out that it was Peter all along.”

“How many were at the match?” asked Susan.

“At least two dozen,” sighed Beth, “it was terrifying, if it hadn’t been for Ced I might not have made it out alive.”

“What about your uncles?” asked Justin, “where were they?”

“Trying to fight the deatheaters,” said Beth biting her lip, “they were torturing muggles.”

“It was so scary,” she sobbed finally bursting into tears.

“Oh it’s ok Beth,” said Susan pulling Beth in for a hug, “you’re alright!”

“At least two dozen,” muttered Ernie shaking his head.

“Any room in here?” asked Ginny peering round the door.

“Come in Ginny,” said Justin as Ernie took his feet off of one of the seats.

Ginny came in pulling her trunk, along with Percy and his trunk and his owl Hermes.

“I thought you’d graduated Percy?” asked Ernie as he helped Percy with his trunk.

“They’re not making you redo a year are you?” asked Susan.

“You didn’t fail anything heaven forbid?” asked Justin.

“On the contrary,” chuckled Percy shaking his head, “twelve Outstanding’s.”

“So what the hell are you doing here then?” stammered Ernie.

Ginny and Beth were both smirking at each other, Susan, Ernie and Justin all looked deeply confused.

“You might as well tell them Percy,” giggled Beth.

“They’ll find out tonight anyway,” Ginny pointed out.

Percy nodded smirking slightly.

“I’m your new professor,” said Percy slightly nervous of what their reaction would be.

“You’re the new Defence teacher?” asked Justin excitedly.

“No,” said Percy looking up at them, “um actually I’m the new History of Magic professor.”

“You’re replacing Binns?” asked Ernie raising his eyebrows.

“Are you serious?” asked Susan in a state of shock.

“Why would I joke about something as serious as replacing Professor Binns?”

“Well done Percy!” said Ernie shaking his hand, “you’ll be great.”

“And thank you” said Justin, “for saving us from the torture of Binns’ droning.”

“You are most sincerely welcome Justin,” chuckled Percy.

“And we’ve got more news,” beamed Ginny.

“Oh come on Gin, we can hardly stand the suspense!” exclaimed Ernie.

“Go on and tell them Gin,” muttered Susan.

“You know too!” said Justin whipping his head around.

“There’s a reason I’ve been stuck at my grandparents all summer, my dad and uncle have been too busy helping with the organising.”

“Organising what?” Ernie practically yelled.

“The Triwizard Tournament,” said Ginny.

“Jesus fucking Christ!” yelled Ernie pumping his fist in the air as his face lit up.

“There’s an age limit though Ernie,” said Percy, “you’ll be too young to enter.”

“Who cares about a sodding age limit?” laughed Ernie, “it’s still the Triwizard Tournament!”

“What in the name of all that is holy is a Triwizard Tournament?” asked Justin.

They spent most of the journey up to school explaining to Justin what a Triwizard Tournament was, and what they thought all the different tasks might be.

When they got up to school it was chucking it down torrential rain.

Susan used her umbrella spell which managed to cover both Beth, Ernie and Susan.

Susan put the umbrella away when they got up to the school, and Peeves was ready and waiting for them.

He threw a massive bucket of water balloons over them as they walked in through the door.

“You Fucking Bastard!” screamed Ernie as he got soaked.

“Language,” teased Peeves poking his tongue out.

“It’s alright Ernie,” muttered Beth drying him off with her wand.

“Just ignore him,” sighed Susan glaring up at Peeves as he cackled at them.

They headed over to the Hufflepuff table where Artie was already sat with Hannah, Neville and Zach.

“Hi Di Hi gang!” called Justin as they sat down with them.

“Ho Di Ho Justin!” chortled Zach, laughing slightly at Justin’s muggle way of greeting people.

“Hey guess what?” asked Hannah, “my little sister Rachael’s going to be starting this year.”

“So’s Bella,” beamed Zach.

“There’s going to be a lot of first years this year,” grumbled Neville.

“And even more next,” agreed Artie.

“Why’s that?” asked Justin.

“Well you guys know how little our year group is right?” asked Ernie.

“Yeah, Ginny’s only one of six girls in her whole year,” nodded Beth

“Exactly,” nodded Neville, “it’s because we were all born during the war against Voldemort.”

“But now,” groaned Ginny, “the baby boom’s started.”

“There’s going to be at least ninety this year,” sighed Ernie.

“And at least two hundred next year,” said Artie.

“Including Timmy,” chuckled Ernie.

“Two hundred first years and Tim,” said Ernie shaking his head, “the school won’t know what’s hit it!”

They hadn’t been kidding, at this point nearly a hundred first years came swarming into the Great Hall.

“There’s so many of them,” exclaimed Beth.

“That’s how big every year is supposed to be,” Susan pointed out.

The sorting hat sang its song, and then Professor McGonagall pulled out a long list of parchment.

“Abbot, Rachael!” she called clearly.

“Come on Rach,” Hannah muttered, “come on Rach!”

Rachael sat on the stool and the hat was placed on her head.

She was sat there for a minute or so when the hat called out “Hufflepuff!”

“Well done Rachy!” called Hannah standing up to applaud her little sister as she walked over to the table.

Hannah gave her little sister a big hug before Rachael went to go and sit at the end of the table waiting for the others to be sorted.

Towards the end of the sorting McGonagall called out Zach’s sister.

“Smith, Arabella!”

A nervous little girl with a sheet of golden hair walked up to the stool, she had been trying to hide behind her hair up until now.

The hat had barley even touched her head when it shouted out “Hufflepuff!”

“When done Bella!” screamed Zach punching his fist in the air as his little sister sat down next to Rachael.

Once Bella had been sorted, there was only ten students left. After that the food appeared on the table.

“I am absolutely starving,” said Ernie.

“I’m surprised you’re not sick after all those disgusting sweets you ate on the train,” said Susan.

“I’m still reigning champion.”

“I think you should take him on again Artie,” said Zach, “knock him down a peg or two!”

“Anytime any place Nightshade,” smirked Ernie.

“You’re going to regret that Macmillan,” said Artie ominously, “I might just take you up on that sometime!”

At the end of the feast Dumbledore made his speech, before he told everyone about the Triwizard Tournament he introduced the new members of staff.

“Firstly, our new defence teacher, Professor Alistair Moody.”

Beth’s mouth drop opened. They had made Mad Eye Moody the new defence teacher? Maybe it was one of Dumbledore’s safety precautions?

“And secondly, I would like to welcome back one of our old students, Percy Weasley.”

There was a certain amount of groaning from some of the students who remembered Percy from when he had been a student. 

“He is going to be replacing Professor Binns as our History of Magic teacher.”

The muttering and groaning stopped.

The students stared at Dumbledore as if thinking this was all some kind of joke, had Binns really finally retired?

Ron Fred and George started to clap from the Gryffindor table breaking the silence. Ginny and Beth soon joined in the clapping.

Within a few seconds, Percy was getting a standing ovation from practically the whole school.

Percy stood up and nodded at them all blushing slightly from embarrassment.

“Well done Percy!” yelled Cedric, who had already known about Percy teaching but wanted to congratulate him anyway.

After dinner Beth noticed that the two new prefects were trying to caroul the new first years.

“I think Charlie and Georgia could use a bit of help,” chuckled Ernie.

Beth, Susan and Ernie walked towards the first years.

“Can you all be quiet please!” shouted Charlie over the first years whilst Georgia sighed heavily.

“Oi!” yelled Ernie.

Twenty five heads turned in Ernie’s direction.

“Thank you,” said Ernie, “now if you will pay attention to Charlie and Georgia, they can show you the way to the Common Room.”

“Thanks Ernie,” muttered Charlie giving Ernie a quick grin as Ernie, Susan and Beth left.

“If theres that many this year, imagine how outnumbered the fifth-year prefects will be next year,” chuckled Susan.

“Well you’ve already got my vote for next year Ernie,” giggled Beth.

“Really whys that?”

“Crowd control,” laughed Beth and Susan as they headed into the Common Room.

“Hi Beth!” called Simon and Emily as they put up the Beth Potter fan club rules.

“I was hoping they’d forgotten all about that,” muttered Beth as they left to go and unpack.

“They’re not doing any harm,” said Susan.

“How would you like to have a Susan Bones fan club?” asked Beth.

“I know Beth.”

“How would you like to have people fawning over you for something you can’t even remember!”

“I know Beth,” muttered Susan.

“I might have gotten rid of Voldemort, but my parents are dead for the exact some reason!”

“I know Beth!” screamed Susan.

Beth took a deep steadying breath and looked at Susan who had tears in her eyes.

“I’m sorry Sus,” muttered Beth as Susan pulled her in close.

“I’m sorry,” said Susan as she stroked Beth’s hair, “it must be awful.”

“Let’s get started on the unpacking yeah?”

“Yeah,” nodded Beth.

Beth and Susan got their unpacking done, but Beth left most of her extra books in her trunk.

“You guys want to see something cool?” asked Beth as she finished unpacking.

“What you got Beth?” asked Artie eagerly.

“Communication mirror, it was a birthday present.”

“Oh can we try them out?” asked Susan.

“Sure,” beamed Beth sitting down on Susan’s bed next to her.

“Sirius!” Beth called into the mirror, “Sirius!”

“Testing testing one two three are you receiving me?” asked Sirius as he appeared on the mirror.

“Loud and clear,” beamed Beth.

The other girls all clambered onto Susan’s bed so they could see too.

“I was wondering if you might call tonight,” chuckled Sirius, “I’ll just go get Moony.”

“Remi!” he called, “Lilybeth’s on the mirror!”

“Hi there Cariad,” said Remus running into the room.

“Hi Uncle Remus,” beamed Beth, “I’ve got the others here.”

“Who are the others?” asked Sirius.

“Well you already know Ginny and Artie,” said Beth as Ginny and Artie waved.

“This is Hannah.”

“Hello Hannah,” nodded Sirius.

“Hello Mr Black sir,” said Hannah.

“And this is Sus,” said Beth.

“So you’re the Susan who’s stolen my little girls heart?” asked Sirius.

“I’ve heard a lot about you Miss Bones,” said Sirius ominously.

Susan looked at Beth nervously.

“Don’t worry he’s just teasing you,” giggled Beth as Susan looked much more relieved.

“How’s the new defence teacher then?” asked Remus.

“Mad eye Moody!” said Artie excitedly.

“You’re joking?” exclaimed Sirius.

“No im not,” said Artie.

“We were just as shocked as you are,” said Susan.

“Uncle Remus,” asked Beth, “do you remember last year when you managed to sort out Peeves?”

“What’s he been doing this time?” groaned Remus.

“Water bombs over the entrance,” sighed Susan.

“Not that it mattered though,” chuckled Artie, “we were already all soaked from the rain.”

“Hmmm well,” muttered Remus, “next time Peeves bothers you, tell him Messer’s Moony Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs send their compliments.”


	18. The New Teachers

“Morning Beth,” whispered Susan early the next morning.

Beth had fallen asleep in Susan’s arms again. They were spooning, and because Beth was so much smaller, she was the little spoon.

“Hmm, morning Sus,” Beth muttered drowsily as they snuggled together under the quilt.

“Shall we get up then?” asked Susan.

“It’s too early,” mumbled Beth.

“I haven’t been alone with you in a long time,” she giggled trying not to wake the others up.

Beth was suddenly wide awake.

Beth and Susan packed their bags with all their books and pulled on their uniforms at top speed trying to get dressed without waking anyone up.

They crept down to the common room and saw that the only a few people were awake, mostly fifth and seventh years doing last minute holiday homework.

Peter Smith one of the seventh-year prefects looked up at them as they tried to creep past.  
Peter was trying to go over prefect duties for the year with Juliet Fawley.

“So the fifth years can keep an eye on the first years as usaul,” said Juliet.

“There’s an awful lot of them Jules,” sighed Peter.

Juliet glared at him slightly.

“Sorry Jules, keep going.”

“Cedric and Penny can help us with the other six years and take Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday patrol duties,” she muttered jotting that down.

“Which leaves us with Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday,” sighed Peter.

“Why do we even bother going through this?” asked Peter, “it’s the same schedule as last year.”

“Hi!” he called as they walked past.

Peter was getting slightly fed up with drawing up prefect schedules at five thirty in the morning, and Juliet had been made even more insufferable since she had been made head girl.

“Shhh!” whispered Susan.

“Sorry Susan,” whispered Peter laughing slightly, “I hope you two have a nice time together.”

“Where are you two off to at this time in the morning?” asked Juliet suspiciously.

“Trying to get some privacy,” Susan pointed out as if nothing could be more obvious.

“Trying to find a place where you won’t be bothered by admiring fans?” asked Peter knowingly.

“We’ve avoided them this long,” said Beth staring down at her shoes.

“Go on get on with you,” said Juliet shaking her head slightly as she went back to the schedule.

“Maybe we should start using the invisibility cloak just so we can escape faster,” giggled Susan as she ran to the seventh floor pulling Beth with her.

“That could work,” giggled Beth.

They reached the room of requirement which changed into a small sitting room with a roaring fire.

“I’ve missed you,” whispered Susan as they put their bags down.

“I’ve missed you too,” beamed Beth running her fingers through Susan’s hair as they fell back onto the sofa and started a frenzy of kissing.

After half an hour of frantic kissing Beth found herself sitting in front of the fire leaning against Susan’s legs reading a history textbook on goblin rebellions that had magically appeared in the room.

“Sus?”

“Hmmm?” muttered Susan looking up from where she had been staring into the flames.

“If Voldemort does come back,” she muttered.

“He’s not going to Beth,” Susan assured.

“I’ve fought him three times now Sus, he’ll come back.”

Susan flinched slightly and sat down next to Beth in front of the ifre with her arm around her.

“What I’m trying to say, is when Voldemort does come back, I’ll understand if you don’t want to be with me anymore.”

“What are you talking about?” laughed Susan.

“Well, he’s going to want to get to me, he might want to use those people close to me, Remus, Sirius.”

Beth paused for a moment.

“You,” she muttered biting her lip.

“Elizabeth Lily Potter,” said Susan firmly, “I love you, and if You Know Who does come back, I’ll be with you all the way, till the very end.”

Susan kissed Beth lightly on the forehead and then checked her watch.

“It’s half seven,” sighed Susan picking up her bag.

They both straightened each other’s uniforms, their moment of quiet was gone until the next morning.

“Come on Beth,” beamed Susan, “I smell sausages.”

Beth and Susan half ran down to the great hall their bags hitting against their legs.

“Morning,” said Cedric laughing at the slightly breathless girls.

Beth noticed that Nick, Nigel, Fred and George were all talking conspiratorially in a huddle at the Ravenclaw table. Nothing good could ever happen if those four got together.

“Hi Ced,” said Susan as she pilled ketchup on top of her sausages.

Beth had a boiled egg and some toast as she waited for Sprout to come round with the timetables.

“Hi Di Hi gang!” beamed Justin as he sat down with Ernie, Neville and Zach.

“Ho Di Do,” called a few people, including Beth, Susan and a few muggleborns.

“What do you think the daily poison will be?” asked Neville.

“Want to take some bets?” asked Zach.

“You’d better be bloody quick with those bets Smith, because Sprouts coming around with the timetables now.”

“Bugger!” muttered Justin putting his money away.

“What we got today then?” asked Susan as Sprout talked to Cedric about his NEWTs.

“Um history,” said Beth checking the column, “then arithmancy and then double defence this afternoon.”

“We’ve got History with the Slytherins, and then defence with Slytherins.”

“Poor Percy,” sighed Ernie picking up his bag, “Slytherins in his first lesson!”

“Slytherins twice in one day!” groaned Susan.

Ernie, Beth, Susan, and Justin all headed for History.

When they got there Neville was whispering in Hannah’s ear and Hannah was blushing.

“Hey lover boy,” smirked Ernie as he and Justin sat down in the front row.

“Don’t be horrible Ernie,” said Susan firmly, “you’re just jealous.”

At this point Malfoy came swaggering into the room his arm around Pansy, followed by the rest of the Slytherins, Theo trailing on the back his head in a book.

“Alright Potter?” he sneered leaning against the teachers desk.

“I see Susan’s got even taller than you,” sniggered Pansy, “you’ll probably have to wear six inch high heels just to be able to dance properly at the ball.”

“At least she’s got a date,” Ernie muttered.

“What’s the use of a date, if it’s with a freakishly tall blood traitor,” smirked Malfoy

“Take that back Malfoy!” said Susan leaping up and pointing her wand at his throat.

Beth leapt up to and stood next to Susan.

“And what about that statement wasn’t true?” said Malfoy in barley above a whisper.

“Susan may be tall,” seethed Beth, “and she might have different loyalties to you. But she is a good kind person, something you will never be Malfoy!”

The corner of Malfoy’s mouth twitched slightly as if he was going to say something but then decided against it and sauntered to the back of the classroom with Pansy and Blaise.

Theo looked up from his book for a moment as he passed.

He gave Beth and Susan a brief nod and a smile before going back to his book.

Beth knew what that meant in Theo language, well done for sticking up for Malfoy, see you tonight in the Room of Requirement at 5.30.

Not long after that Percy came into the classroom.

“Good morning class,” he beamed as he stood in front of the desk.

Malfoy was lounging in one of the chairs at the back his feet up on the desk, Blaise had his feet on the desk too and was staring up at the ceiling, Pansy was filing her nails.

“Hem hem,” Percy coughed slightly trying to get the Slytherin’s attention.

“I’m sorry is there someone there?” asked Malfoy opening his eyes and looking around dramatically.

“All I can see is a weasel,” he chuckled.

“I’m a professor Malfoy,” said Percy firmly, “now get your feet off the desk and pay attention now.”

Blaise had taken his feet off the desk lazily and Pansy was holding her file frozen in her hand, this was far more interesting to watch.

“And just what are you going to do about it if I don’t?” sneered Malfoy standing up and getting his wand out.

“Sit down Malfoy,” said Percy firmly.

“Or what?”

“Or what!” shouted Malfoy pointing his wand at Percy’s chest like a dagger.

“If you don’t sit down right now Malfoy, I’ll tell Professor Snape.”

“Oh you’re going to run to Professor Snape!” cackled Malfoy.

“I’m so scared!” 

“You’d better be Mr Malfoy,” said a soft voice familiar voice from the doorway.

Malfoy gulped and turned around as white as a sheet.

Professor Snape was standing in the open doorway to the classroom, and he had clearly just heard everything.

“I’m sorry if we disturbed you Professor Snape,” sighed Percy.

“You did not,” said Snape glaring at Malfoy.

“I happened to have a free period and I know there are a few difficult students in this class.”

Snape looked over to Malfoy, Blaise and Pansy at this point, Blaise raised his eyebrows at him, and Pansy tried to feign a look of innocence.

“I know that they like to cause trouble for the new professors, so I thought I’d come check on them.”

Malfoy’s face was so white it was practically see through.

“Mr Malfoy,” said Snape looking directly at Malfoy, “I have never seen a student try and attack a member of staff, especially unprovoked! You are lucky that at least Professor Weasley can keep his temper if you can’t.”

“He’s not a Professor,” spat Malfoy.

“What was that?” whispered Snape.

“He’s not a professor sir,” said Malfoy more clearly.

“Professor Weasley is your teacher and you shall treat him with respect,” said Snape menacingly.

“A week’s worth of detention Draco,” said Snape, “now take your seat and meet in my office tonight.”

“Yes sir,” muttered Malfoy going back to his desk and getting his books out dutifully.

“If you have anything, you’d like Draco to do in detention Percy please let me know,” said Snape before billowing from the classroom his robes sweeping behind him.

“Now then,” said Percy straightening his glasses.

“Now we’ve got that sorted, I am Professor Weasley, but most of you already know that. I don’t know all of your names, but I know most of them, I’m sure I’ll learn them all in no time.”

“Can anyone one remind me what you studied last year?”

Beth threw her hand in the air.

“Yes Beth?”

“Medieval Witch Hunts.”

“Correct, this year though we are going to be moving onto Goblin Rebellions.”

“Can anyone one tell me how many Goblin Rebellions there have been?”

The class all looked slightly confused, they had been used to Professor Binns who had just droned on and never asked any questions or got the class involved in the lesson.

Beth raised her hand again, Theo also raised his hand nervously.

“Yes um Theodore right?”

“Theo,” nodded Theo.

“There was one in 1612,” said Theo.

Percy nodded as he wrote the date down on the board.

“Beth?”

“And there were several in the 18th Century,” nodded Beth, “1747-52 and 1762-70.”

Percy wrote those dates down on the board too.

“We are going to start off with the 1612 rebellion,” said Percy pointing his wand at the blackboard which cleared and 1612 Goblin Rebellion was written clearly at the top.

“This first rebellion actually has connections near here, can anyone tell me why?”

Neville raised his hand as if terrified he had the wrong answer.

“Has it got something to do with Hogsmeade?”

Percy nodded encouragingly.

“Wasn’t the Three Broomsticks one of the headquarters?”

“That’s correct Neville,” beamed Percy.

“The first goblin rebellion was fought just down the road from here, the goblin headquarters were in a cave in the mountains, but the wizard headquarters was in the three broomsticks, most of the fighting happened in the actual village.”

“The goblin who started this whole rebellion had a very unfortunate name, Ufard the Unready. I think you can all tell from his name that this rebellion was far from successful for the goblins.”

The class laughed slightly as they wrote this down, Percy somehow made it so interesting and entertaining.

By the end of the lesson, even Malfoy was at least half listening to the lesson even if he wasn’t making notes.

“So,” said Percy still leaning against his desk, “what were the motives for this rebellion?”

Ernie put his hand up, and Percy nodded towards him.

“The Goblin’s wanted their own village like wizards had, they wanted to take over Hogsemeade.”

“Correct,” beamed Percy.

Beth also put her hand in the air and Percy nodded towards her.

“They also wanted permission to attend Hogwarts, so they could learn magic like wizards.”

“Excatly,” beamed Percy.

“Right now the question is, what would have been different if the Goblin’s had won the rebellion?”

“What kind of a question is that?” sneered Malfoy.

Justin put his hand in the air.

“It’s important to think about how the world could have been different if history had gone differently. It shows us the importance of the events.”

“That’s correct Justin, five points to Hufflepuff, so anyone got any ideas about any changes there might have been?”

“Hogsmeade would have been a goblin village?” suggested Ernie.

“That’s right, anything else?”

“There would be goblin students at the school?” offered Artie.

“Right, do you think that might have been any other changes though?”

Susan put her hand in the air.

“If the goblins had got into the school and got the village, they might have kept on wanting more things.”

“Hmmm,” nodded Percy encouragingly.

“Do you think there might have been goblins in the ministry?”

“That’s a good point Susan.”

“In the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures?” suggested Susan eagerly.

“Don’t be ridiculous Susan,” drawled Blaise.

“Goblins in the ministry?” cackled Pansy.

“Actually, Susan has made an excellent point,” said Percy, “even today goblins are still petitioning to have representatives within the Department for the Regulation and Control for Magical Creatures.”

Susan beamed.

“For homework today, I want you all to write about what you think might have been different if the goblins had won the 1612 rebellion, it doesn’t have to be long, but I would like you all to put some thought into it.”

It was still raining from the day earlier so the Hufflepuff’s spent morning break trying to keep dry in one of the classrooms. 

Fred, George, Nick and Nigel were gathered around one of the tables whispering, Cedric was working on a Transfiguration essay at the next table.

“That was the best History lesson ever!” exclaimed Artie flopping down on top of one of the tables.

“It was so interesting,” agreed Neville.

“It’s the exact same things that Binns has been trying to teach us for the last three years,” muttered Beth, “just a better teacher.”

“You lot had Percy then?” asked Cedric.

“How’d he do?” asked Fred.

“He was great!” said Neville, “the whole class was hanging on his every word.”

“Well practically the whole class,” corrected Susan, “a few of the Slytherins still need a bit of talking over.”

At this moment Peeves came floating into the room with another bucket of water balloons, preparing to throw them at the Hufflepuffs.

“Hang on there a moment Peeves,” said Cedric putting his essay away so it wouldn’t get wet.

“Why should I?” he cackled.

Beth bit her lip for a second, it was worth a try.

“Because Peeves, Messer’s Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs send their compliments.”

Fred and George looked up at Beth in shock but somehow it worked.

Peeves put down the bucket of water balloons on the table and gave Beth a deep bow.

The whole room stared at Peeves, they didn’t know why this might have worked.

“You knows the Messer’s?”

“Um yes,” stammered Beth, “Master Prongs is my father.”

“If Mistress Prongslet needs anything, all you need to do is call old Peevsey.”

Peeves left the room taking the bucket of water balloons with him.

“Why didn’t we try that years ago?” asked George.

“Because you didn’t know to try,” giggled Susan.

“But why the hell did it work?” asked Ernie.

“I think it’s got something to with Peeves owing my dad and his friends a lot of favours,” laughed Beth, “Dad and Sirius kept Peeves supplied with an seemingly endless supply of dung bombs from 1973-7.”

“The Marauders were behind the dung bomb epidemic?” asked Fred.

“That’s still legendary now,” exclaimed George.

“I don’t see why you’re quite so obsessed with them,” muttered Beth picking up her bag, “you know half of them, and they’re perfectly normal people.”

“Sirius and Remus are cool, Moony and Padfoot are gods!” called Fred as Beth and Ernie left for Arithmancy.

“Good morning class,” said Professor Vector.

“Morning Professor,” beamed Beth.

“Right, everyone’s moving desk again,” said Vector.

They all grumbled slightly and picked up their bags.

Beth was sat with Tracy Davis which wasn’t too bad she supposed, but Ernie was made to sit next to Blaise.

Ernie and Blaise were both glaring at each other.

“Last year we learnt about the importance of names, this year it gets more complicated, we’re going to start on spells.”  
“It works the same way, changing the letters for numbers, but this time instead of adding the letters together, you times them.”

They started off with a fairly basic spell, Lumos.

Beth copied out the spell and the numbers underneath.

LUMOS 33461

“Now what?” asked Tracy.

“Well we times all the numbers together,” said Beth doing the maths, “and get 216.”

“So, do we then times 2, 1 and 6 together to get the answer?”

“I think so,” muttered Beth.

They ended up getting twelve and timesed them again to get two.

“So the answers two!” beamed Tracy, “that wasn’t so hard.”

“It’s not really hard, it’s more logical.”

Beth flicked through the textbook, “it says here that if a spell is a two it means its not a very powerful spell.”

“Well Lumos isn’t,” agreed Tracy.

Beth looked over to where Blaise and Ernie were arguing.

“Don’t be stupid Macmillan!” shouted Blaise, “the answers clearly 5.”

“Well I think it’s three!” glared Ernie.

“Actually, boys you’re both wrong,” said Tracy, “it’s two.”

“Oh,” muttered Blaise, “thanks Trac.”

“Those two will never get along, will they?” sighed Tracy.

“Probably not no,” said Beth shaking her head as they packed away their books.

After lunch came the lesson everyone had been looking forward to, Defence Against the Dark Arts with the ex auror, Mad Eye Moody.

Susan and Beth sat down at the front of the classroom, next to Theo and Tracy. Malfoy, Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle were all lounging at the back as usual.

Professor Moody came clunking into the classroom and pulled out his register. 

Moody would stare at some people as he reached their names on the list.

“Nott, Theodore.”

“Yes sir,” said Theo staring down at his shoes.

Moody stared at him for a moment before moving onto the next person on the list.

“I knew quite a few of your fathers,” said Moody threateningly, looking at Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Theo.

It was well known that all four of their fathers were deatheaters who had somehow managed to escape Azkaban through bribery and lying.

Theo bit his lip and stared down at his shoes, Malfoy glared at Moody through slanted eyes. Crabbe and Goyle didn’t seem to realise there was a problem in the first place.

Malfoy and Moody had some kind of staring contest for a minute or so.

“Right,” muttered Moody taking his gaze away from Malfoy, “I am going to be here for one year, I’m here to teach you all what you’re up against.”

“Can anyone name any of the unforgivable curses?”

Ernie put his hand up nervously and looked at Neville, Susan and Beth.

“Mr Macmillan correct?”

Ernie nodded.

“George Macmillan’s son?”

“Yes sir,” said Ernie.

Moody nodded at Ernie as if giving him permission to talk.

“The unforgivable curses,” sighed Ernie. 

“The first one is the imperius curse, it gives the caster complete control over a person.”

Moody nodded and wrote that down.

“We’ve been having a lot of trouble with that spell, some deatheaters tried saying that they had only been working under You Know Who’s service because of the imperius curse. The ministry let them go free, the liars!”

Moody glared at Theo again, Theo flinched slightly but ignored him.

“The next one,” said Ernie getting more nervous and looking over at Neville, “is the Cruciatus curse, it’s the torture curse.”

Hannah put her arm around Neville as Neville stared down at his shoes.

“The last one,” Ernie gulped, “is the killing curse, instant death.”

Beth felt Susan gripping onto her shoulder tightly.

Moody pulled a spider jar out of his desk and pointed his wand at the spider.

“Imperio,” he whispered.

The spider flew around the room, tried to throw itself down Artie’s throat, it even tried to do a tap dance.

Then came the cruciatus curse.

The screams were unbearable, pierce and shrill, it nearly burst Beth’s eardrums.

Neville was shaking his head in shock as Hannah tried to calm him down.

Ernie knew what was coming next.

He looked at Moody defiantly as he pointed his wand at the spider.

Susan was gripping onto Beth’s hand so tightly it almost hurt.

“Avada Kedavra!”

There was flash of green light and the spider was dead on the desk.

Beth was shaking with tears. Susan let go off Beth’s hand limply and stared at Moody her mouth wide open.

“There’s only one person who’s ever survived the killing curse, and they’re sitting in this very room.”

He stared at Beth’s scar for a minute with both eyes, even the moving one.

“You might ask why I’m showing you these curses? Because you’ve got to know!”

“Constant Vigilance!” he roared.

The bell rang for the end of class and the Slytherin’s burst from the room before he had time to accuse any more of them of being deatheaters children.

Hannah and Zach were trying to sort out Neville and coax him into go and get something to eat.

Artie was trying to calm down Susan and Beth, but Susan was staring into space and Beth was still shaking with tears.

Ernie and Justin were staring at Moody who was packing away his things.

“You lot alright?” asked Moody in a softer growl than earlier.

“We’re fine,” muttered Justin, “no thanks to you.”

Moody shook his head solemnly.

“You’ve got to know,” said Moody placing his hands on Beth’s shoulders. Beth was still shaking and sobbing.

“Don’t you touch her,” said Ernie pulling his wand out of his pocket.

Artie, Hannah and Zach all looked at them both nervously.

“I’m sorry, but you had to know,” sighed Moody before leaving the classroom.

“He should have checked the register before showing those kinds of spells,” stammered Hannah.

“He knew what he was doing,” spat Zach.

“We should get this lot to Pomfrey,” muttered Artie, “they’ve had a shock.”

“Susie!” called Artie, “Susie!”

Susan just stared into space.

“Susie, Beth needs you,” said Ernie gently.

“Hmmm,” muttered Susan blinking and gripping back onto Beth’s hand.

“Come on,” said Zach shaking his head.

Hannah took Neville’s hand gently, and Zach put his arm around him.

Ernie put his arm around Susan’s waist, Susan was still looking shocked but was clutching onto Beth’s hand as if her life depended on it.

Artie and Justin helped with all the bags and they all headed down to the Hospital Wing.

“Can I help you all with something?” asked Pomfrey as they arrived.

Then Pomfrey saw Beth was shaking and sobbing hysterically, Susan and Neville who were both in a state of shock and the rest of the Hufflepuffs who all were looking outraged.

“What happened?” she asked nervously.

“Professor Moody happened,” growled Zach.

“What are you talking about Mr Smith?”

“He showed us the three unforgivable curses,” Artie explained, “Beth seems to be worse than the other two.”

“Thank you all for bringing them in,” sighed Pomfrey as she went to go and fetch several large bars of chocolate.

“Come on Susie,” said Ernie gently as he shepherded Beth and Susan over to one of the beds.

Susan and Beth sat down on top of the bed, and Neville sat down on one of the others with Hannah.

Pomfrey came over and handed half a bar of chocolate to Neville, Susan and Beth and also a small piece to all the others.

“Showing unforgivable curses to a class of children like that,” muttered Pomfrey.

Susan took a small bite from her chocolate and felt better almost instantly.

“It’s ok Beth,” she muttered putting her arm around Beth and holding her in close.

“It’s ok,” Susan sighed trying to shush her.

Beth sobbed into Susan for a few moments.

“It’s alright Beth,” muttered Susan.

“We need you to eat this alright?” asked Ernie as Pomfrey checked over Neville.

Susan handed Beth a piece of chocolate, but Beth shook her head.

“It’ll make you feel better I promise!” said Susan desperately.

Beth took a tiny nibble from the chocolate and gulped down still sobbing slightly.

Susan smiled slightly as Beth ate the chocolate.

“That’s it,” she muttered, “just keep going.”

“I can’t believe that he could do this,” sighed Artie, “showing those spells in front of Beth and Neville, knowing what happened to their parents.”

“Susie?” asked Zach, “we know why Neville and Beth got upset, but why did it affect you so badly?”

“Leave her Zach,” said Justin.

“No it’s ok,” muttered Susan still trying to soothe Beth.

“My family were murdered by the deatheaters,” said Susan, “my grandparents, my uncle Edgar, my aunt and their children too.”

“I thought you just finished staying the summer at your grandparents Susan?” asked Artie.

“Those are my Mum’s parents,” said Susan, “the deatheaters killed off over half the Bones family during the war for not joining the deatheaters.”

Pomfrey came over to check on Beth and Susan.

“You seem to be alright dear,” said Pomfrey checking Susan’s forehead.

“Hmm, slightly clammy,” muttered Pomfrey checking Beth’s forehead, “I want you to finish off that chocolate and I don’t want any of you doing any work tonight.”

Neville was sniffling slightly but other than that seemed to be fine, Beth was still crying slightly as she ate the chocolate.

“How you feeling Nev?” asked Zach.

“I’m fine,” muttered Neville, “just didn’t expect him to show that spell.”

“I know what you mean,” sighed Susan.

“Do you want to head back to the Common Room Beth?” asked Ernie gently.

“No,” she muttered talking for the first time, “Theo.”

“You sure?” asked Ernie.

“Hmmm,” muttered Beth.

“Come on then,” said Ernie.

Susan put her arm around Beth’s waist and they headed up to the seventh floor with Ernie.

“We’re not doing any homework though,” said Ernie.

“I know, I just want to check he’s alright,” said Beth, “Moody was pretty tough on him too.”

When they got to the Room of Requirement, Theo was already there and had brought Tracy with him.

“Hey guys,” said Tracy, “this room is so cool!”

“Hi,” muttered Susan.

“It is ok I brought Tracy, right?” asked Theo nervously.

“She won’t tell anyone and she’s really good at Arithmancy.”

“It’s fine Theo,” sighed Ernie.

“I’ve been wondering where you’ve been disappearing off to for the past year,” giggled Tracy.

“I didn’t know you cared Trac,” chuckled Theo.

“You ok Theo, Moody was pretty rough today?”

“Yeah I’m fine, I know my dad’s a deatheater, but I’m not.”

“We know that Theo,” said Beth shaking her head.

“I was worried about you lot though, you were pretty shaken up.”

“They’re fine, we took them and Nev to Pomfrey.”

“Can we take a night off from homework tonight?” asked Tracy.

“I want to test out this cool room,” she beamed.

“We’re not allowed to be doing any tonight anyway,” shrugged Susan, “Pomfrey’s orders.”

At this point, Hermione and Ron appeared in the room.

“What are you doing here?” said Ron glaring slightly at Tracy.

“I invited her,” muttered Theo.

“Isnt one Slytherin enough?” he glowered.

“Excuse me?” asked Tracy standing up.

“Ron,” muttered Hermione.

“We don’t even have any homework tonight,” said Ron, “so I don’t even know why we’re here.”

Ron fled from the room leaving a deadly silence behind him.

“I’ll see you lot tomorrow,” sighed Hermione, “I should go check on him.”


	19. In Which a Boy Becomes a Man

“Wake up!” called Beth.

“It’s Saturday,” grumbled Hannah.

“It’s Saturday the sixth of September,” Susan pointed out beaming as she stretched.

“Cedric!” exclaimed Artie and Ginny leaping out of bed.

It was only six o’clock in the morning, but everyone had their jobs to do and only twelve hours left to do them in.

Everyone got dressed at top speed and rushed down to the Great Hall where Cedric was having breakfast on his own.

“What you lot doing up so early?” asked Cedric.

“We could ask you the same question Ced,” chuckled Artie.

“You know how hard I have to try to get you lot out of bed for early practise,” muttered Cedric looking at Artie and Ginny.

“Well it’s such a nice day, we wanted to go flying,” said Ginny.

“Want to come Ced?” asked Artie.

“Well, I haven’t got any homework,” sighed Cedric, “should we wait to ask your brothers?”

“What’s the point in waiting for them?” asked Ginny.

“Those four are so busy gossiping and whispering these days they don’t care about flying,” agreed Artie.

“Oh, alright then,” chuckled Cedric.

Cedric left with Artie and Ginny to go and enjoy one of the last warm days of the year.

Susan checked that they had gone properly before the three girls rushed back to the Common Room.

“Where’s Cedric?” asked Peter.

“Out flying with Ginny and Artie,” said Beth.

“He’ll be gone all day,” said Hannah.

“Great!” beamed Julie.

“Right then everyone!” Peter called out loudly, “he’s gone!”

There was a loud clamouring as dozens of pairs of feet came running down the stairs up from the dormitories.

“Right!” called Peter over the noise, “can we have some quiet please!”

“Ok Simon, Emily,” said Julie, “you’re in charge of decorating, there’s a bunch of card and paper, just make the Common Room look nice.”

Simon and Emily were the leaders of the Beth Potter fan club, it was more of a homework group really and it was only Hufflepuff’s in it now, but Beth was still their idol.

“There’s a lot to get through, so everyone below third year can you help with the decorating,” said Peter.

“Penny,” said Julie, “you’re on the door, if Cedric tries coming back before tonight keep him away.”

“How?” asked Penny.

“I don’t know Pen think of something!” said Peter exasperated.

“Beth, Susan and Hannah, you’re making the cake right?”

“Yeah,” nodded Hannah.

“We’re getting enough food for everyone too,” said Susan.

“What about the booze?” asked one of the seventh years.

“We’ve had a whip round,” said Peter, “the Weasley and the Nightshade twins are going to help get some today, I want you to go with them though, none of them are of age.”

“Alright,” nodded the seventh year.

“Ernie, Neville, Zach, Justin,” said Julie, “we need you lot to set up Beth’s music thing.”

“Record player,” sighed Justin.

“Yeah that,” said Peter, “pick some decent music, for some reason Cedric likes muggle stuff.”

“Because the music’s better!” said Justin.

“No, it’s not!” shouted Zach.

“Shut up!” said Ernie, “we’re not arguing today!”

“Peter and I need to go talk to Sprout,” said Julie, “any NEWT potions students meet in the potions lab in half an hour.”

“Well you’ve all got your jobs,” said Peter, “he’ll be back at six o’clock, now get moving!”

Ernie and Justin gave Peter and Julie a brief salute before running off to go and find Beth’s record player.

“Come on Beth,” beamed Susan, “we’ve got a cake to bake!”

Beth, Susan and Hannah went through to the kitchen were the house elves were still cleaning up from breakfast, but it was only nine hours until Cedric got back.

“Cedric likes chocolate fudge cake,” said Beth.

“Who doesn’t,” muttered Hannah licking her lips.

“His mum taught me her recipe,” said Beth.

“Now we’ve just got to make enough for a hundred and twenty,” chuckled Susan.

They found several huge tins and made enough chocolate cake mixture to fill the three tins and put the cakes in the oven.

Then they got out the fondant.

They had several pounds worth of white fondant and different bottles of food colouring.

Beth separated about half of the fondant and kneaded yellow colouring into it until the fondant was a light yellow, and then set it aside.

“What does Cedric like?” asked Hannah as she looked at the rest of the fondant.

Beth and Susan looked at Hannah as if it was the most stupid question.

“Quidditch!” they all giggled.

Beth got started on making some figures out of the fondant and then painting them with food colouring and a brush.

“They’re so delicate!” beamed Hannah as Beth finished making about a dozen broomsticks.

She also make some people who were all wearing Quidditch robes, and carrying broomsticks.

Beth made the entire Hufflepuff Quidditch team out of fondant, and then also made Fred, George, Nick and Nigel.

She also added half a dozen badgers who were scampering about.

They put chocolate fudge icing between the layers of the cake once they’d cooled, and then decorated it with the light-yellow fondant on top and put all the decorations on.

The house elves had been busy too, there was sandwiches, and sausage rolls, fruit salad, bowls upon bowls full of crisps and sweets.

There was also bottles of butter beer and fizzy pop for the underage students, the only people old enough to be drinking where the seventh years and Cedric.

The fifth years came through to the kitchen at five o’clock to help carry all the food through and set it up.

It took ten people to carefully lift and carry the huge cake slowly down the corridor to the Common Room.

It had been transformed, there was paper chains hanging all over the room in all the colours of the rainbow. Georgia had enchanted the paper chains to change colours of their own accord.

There were tables bulging with food, enough for everyone in the whole house.

There were people bustling about everywhere, the boys had set up the record player, and had figured out how to turn up the volume so it as if it was connected to speakers throughout the room.

Two seventh years came in at this point carrying a heavying crate.

“You got the booze?” asked Peter.

“One dozen bottles of Firewhisky,” they said as they put the crate down on the floor and unloaded the bottle on to the table.

“How did you even get those?” asked Penny.

“Fred and George, showed us a secret passage,” said Katie as Katie and Mark unpacked the crate.

“Well done guys,” beamed Peter.

“Can we have some quiet please!” called Julie.

The whole house turned to look at her.

“Cedric will be back in ten minutes,” said Julie, “and we have some rules.”

“You know that Sprout has given us permission for this party but she has got some rules,” said Peter.

There was a large amount of groaning.

“Rule number one- the Common Room has to be sound proofed; she doesn’t want the rest of the castle being disturbed.”

“This also means that if anyone wants to go up to their dorm it will be quiet,” explained Julie.

“Seems fair enough to me,” muttered Zach.

“Rule number two,” said Julie, “no gate crashers, Hufflepuff students only.”

“So I’m sorry guys,” shrugged Peter, “but if you’re not a Hufflepuff you’ve got to go.”

There was a small amount of grumbling as half a dozen Gryffindors and Ravenclaws left.

“Rule number three” said Peter, “no underage drinking!”

“Just you try and stop us!” called one of the sixth years.

“You see this line,” said Julie pointing along the floor, there was a bright line in front of the firewhisky table.

“Yeah,” shrugged a fifth-year girl.

“That’s an age line, nobody under seventeen can get over that line.”

“It’s also going to be supervised all night by Julie and me.”

Some of the fifth and sixth years looked seriously disappointed but they wanted to listen to the rest of the rules.

“This next rule is from Professor Snape,” said Julie.

There was a deadly silence.

“He will not be providing any hangover cures, so if we insist on drinking, make your own.”

“Julie and some of the seventh years have been working on that today, so there’s plenty of the potion to go around between the people who are seventeen.”

“Next rule, party must be over by midnight.”

“Midnight!” yelled Charlie, “that’s far too early.”

“We still get six hours of partying first,” said Peter.

“No going out after curfew, but that one’s normal,” said Julie.

“If any of these rules get broken,” said Peter firmly, “there will be no more parties. If the rules don’t get broken, Sprout says she will consider more parties in the future.”

“Be fair guys,” said Ernie, “at least Sprout’s being reasonable.”

“Yeah I bet McGonagall or Snape would have told their house to fuck off,” said Zach.

A clock chimed that it was six o’clock, and exactly on que the door began to turn.

Everyone began to hide and Peter got all the lights.

“I don’t know what the hell’s wrong with you two today,” chuckled Cedric as he walked into the Common Room.

“You two have been acting weird all day.”

“Where is everyone,” he muttered lighting his wand.

“Surprise!” yelled the whole house jumping out from behind furniture as Peter turned the lights back on.

“For he’s a jolly good fellow! For he’s a jolly good fellow! For he’s a jolly good fellow! That nobody can deny!”

“Happy birthday Ced,” said Artie beaming.

“You two knew about this?” asked Cedric turning towards Ginny and Artie.

“We were your diversion,” giggled Ginny.

“Happy Birthday Cedric!” said Beth rushing over to him to give him a hug.

Beth and Susan both kissed him on the cheeks.

“Thanks Beth, Susan,” he chuckled.

“Is all this for me?” he asked raising his eyebrows looking around at all the food, drinks and the whole house standing around.

“It’s your birthday Ced,” chuckled Peter, “you’re 17.”

“But you don’t usually do this,” he muttered.

“Yes Cedric,” said Mark, “but not everyone is you!”

“We spent all day getting ready,” said Beth, “made you a cake and everything.”

“Even got permission from Pomfrey,” said Julie.

“Well then I suppose in that case,” shrugged Cedric, “I guess we’re having a party.”

“How do I get this thing to work?” asked Zach down his wand having cast the Sonorus charm.

“It’s already working Zach!” chuckled Justin turning his own wand on.

“Hi Di Hi gang!” called Justin.

“Ho Di Hi Justin!” called the Hufflepuffs.

“First of all, Happy Birthday to Cedric,” said Justin.

“You’re a man now Cedric,” said Zach, “congratulations.”

“We’re going to start off with one of my favourites,” said Justin, “Come on Eileen by Dexy’s Midnight Runners.”

“Hit it Nev!” beamed Zach.

Neville put the first record on the music began to swell filling the whole room.

“Happy Birthday Cedric,” said Peter handing Cedric a large glass of firewhisky.

Cedric looked at the glass slightly surprised and then took a small sip.

“That stuff’s disgusting,” coughed Cedric as he struggled to keep it down.

“It just takes a bit of getting used to,” chuckled Peter as he went over to man the drinks table.

It was the best party Beth had ever been too, everyone ate far too much food, the music was great mainly because Justin was in charge and everyone was dancing and partying like there was no tomorrow.

The muggleborns and half-bloods were in the middle of teaching everyone how to do the YMCA when Sprout came into the Common Room.

She waited until the end of the song, and Beth could swear she saw Sprout joining in at some point.

Sprout nodded to Justin, Zach and Neville and they turned the record player off.

“Alright!” called Professor Sprout loudly, “it’s midnight.”

“We did have a deal guys,” said Peter, “everyone help clear up and then off to bed.”

“It seems like you all kept your word,” said Sprout as they all cleaned up, “well then in that case, if you want to throw another one of these, inform me first, and only on Friday or Saturdays.”

“I can’t believe it,” muttered Ernie as he collected empty drink bottles, there was still six full bottles of firewhisky for next time, “she’s going to let us do this again!”


	20. Thats Illegal!

“So you are trying to tell me, that you guys not only held a house wide party, with firewhisky, and you had Sprouts permission?” 

Tracy and Beth were sat in Arithmancy on Monday morning before lunch, and they had already finished their work and were now chatting.

“I think Sprout would rather know what we’re up to and have some control over it. She set a whole heap of rules, over by midnight, no underage drinking.”

“She still let you throw a fucking party!” whispered Tracy trying not to attract Vector’s attention.

“I’ll see you in defence,” said Beth shaking her head laughing slightly.

Tracy had been coming to their study group for the last week now, Ron still complained about her and Theo being there, but everyone just ignored him.

Beth went to Defence Against the Dark Arts and sat down in the front row with Susan and Theo and Tracy.

“If he makes another crack about my father today, I’m going to tell him that we have mutual feelings about deatheaters.”

“I know what you mean Theo,” sighed Tracy.

The lesson was worse than they thought it would be, Moody came clunking into the classroom and informed them that they would all be having the imperius curse put on them.

“I’m sorry what?” stammered Malfoy.

“That’s illegal!” yelled Ernie.

“Constant vigilance!” yelled Moody, “you need to know what you’re up against.”

He cast the spell on one person at a time, he made Crabbe and Goyle dance an elegant waltz around the classroom, dignified Blaise did some kind of breakdance on the floor.  
Justin gave what Beth was fairly sure was a speech from Julius Ceasar. Susan walked up and down the room with her arms out as if she was trying to walk a tightrope.

“Potter,” said Moody as Susan sat back down.

“It’s ok Beth,” muttered Susan.

Susan squeezed her hand tightly before Beth went up to the front of the room.

“Imperio!” said Moody.

“Jump onto the desk,” said an instant voice in her head.

“Alright,” she shrugged.

“Jump on the desk!”

“Sounds a bit stupid actually, I could get hurt.”

“Jump onto the desk!”

“No thanks.”

“Now!”

The fuzzy feeling left Beth’s head, she had hit her legs because she had only half jumped.

“Now that’s more like it!” exclaimed Moody proudly.

Moody put the imperious curse on Beth at least a dozen times.

By the end of the class Beth had shaken off the curse, but she was in huge amounts of pain from having hit herself against the desk so many times, was white as sheet and exhausted from fighting it off so many times.

Beth sat down again at her desk just before the class ended.

“You ok Beth?” asked Ernie as everyone else left.

“I’m fine, just a bit tired,” she muttered.

“I think we should get her back to the Common Room Ernie; she looks exhausted.”

“Oh, Ron will be pleased that’s it just Theo and I tonight,” beamed Tracy.

Ron somehow didn’t understand how the Hufflepuffs wanted to be friends with Slytherins because he was prejudiced. 

“Come on Beth,” sighed Susan, “you look exhausted, let’s get you to bed.”

Susan put her arm around Beth’s waist and Beth stood up and nearly fainted.

“Jesus Fucking Christ,” muttered Ernie, “that spell that many times, no wonder you’re fainting.”

Ernie helped Susan with Beth and they took her up to the dorm.

“Right now don’t you move a muscle!” threatened Ernie, “I’m going to go some food for us ok?”

“Alright Ernie,” said Susan as she settled Beth down on the bed.

“How are you Beth?”

“Just tired,” she muttered, “a bit weak.”

“Ernie’s getting us some food, maybe he’ll bring back some ice cream?”

The thought of ice cream cheered Beth up, as it always did.

They both went to go change into their pyjamas and soon after Ernie came back with a bulging bag.

“Your feast awaits!” said Ernie pouring the food onto the bed.

“I promised Sprout that you’d eat some sandwiches before you ate the ice cream.”

“You told Sprout?” stammered Beth.

“I ran into her on the way to the kitchen,” mumbled Ernie.

“She was furious!”

“I’ll bet she was,” muttered Susan as they ate their sandwiches.

Beth had a few ham sandwiches and then tucked into the ice cream; Ernie had gotten several cartons.

“Do you want to go halfsies?” asked Susan picking up a carton salted caramel ice cream and one of chocolate chip cookie dough.

“Sure,” beamed Beth picking up a spoon and tucking in.

Once Beth and Susan had shared two cartons of ice cream Ernie looked over at Beth nervously.

“Beth, you told Remus and Sirius you’d ring if anything was wrong right?”

Beth pulled at the end of her plait.

“If being put under the imperious curse twelve times in a row isn’t wrong Beth, what is?”

“I guess you’re right,” muttered Beth pulling out her mirror.

“Sirius!” she called clearly, “Sirius!”

“Hello?” asked Sirius picking up the mirror.

“Hey there Lilybeth,” he beamed, “Susan, Ernie.”

“Remus!” he yelled, “Remus, it’s Beth!”

“Hi Cariad,” chuckled Remus.

“You’re looking a little pale little one, is there something wrong?”

“She looks fine to me Remi,” shrugged Sirius.

“I’m fine!” Beth assured beaming.

“Actaully there is something wrong,” said Ernie.

“Well one of you two is lying,” said Remus.

“It’s Moody,” said Susan, “he put the imperious curse on us all today.”

“What?” whispered Sirius his eyes popping out.

“Um yeah, he wanted us to know what it felt like,” said Ernie.

“Is that why Beth is looking so tired?” asked Remus.

Beth shook her head.

“Beth,” said Remus gently, “if there’s something wrong, you have to let me know.”

“He put the curse on her twelve times until she could fight it off,” said Ernie nervous for what the reaction would be.

“She nearly fainted!” added Susan.

“Moody’s always been a little bit strange,” muttered Sirius looking at Remus, “maybe he has finally gone mad?”

“I know Moody,” said Remus shaking his head, “he’s always been superstitious and overly careful, but he’d never hurt anyone like that, not if he’s in his right mind.”

“I want you all to be very careful in his class alright kids?” asked Sirius.

“Yeah ok,” said Ernie

“You get some rest Cariad, we love you Beth.”

“And if Moody ever tries something like that again, just set Peeves on him.”

“I should go,” said Ernie getting up and taking the rubbish with him, “I promised Justin, Zach and Nev a game of Trick or Treat.”

“Can I have a look at your hair?” asked Susan as Beth pulled at one of her two plaits again.

Beth shrugged and Susan gently brushed out Beth’s hair.

They both plaited their hair, Susan always wore one in a long plait down her back, Beth’s hair was now waist length, and she normally wore in either one or two plaits.

“Do you mind if I try something Beth?” asked Susan getting out a box of hairpins.

“Sure,” sighed Beth as Susan separated Beth’s hair.

Susan brushed Beth’s hair into two plaits but didn’t tie them at the top or the bottom. Then she took the hairpins and pinned the plaits into a crown on Beth’s head.

“Does it look alright?” asked Beth.

“It looks beautiful,” beamed Susan as she put in the last pin.

Beth smiled slightly as she fell back onto her pillows and fell asleep within seconds.

Susan smiled as she tucked Beth into bed and got in next to her.


	21. A Very Long Week

“You guys excited for tomorrow?” asked Susan.

“I can’t wait to ask them all about their different schools,” beamed Hermione, “I’ve been practising my French.”

“Swat!” coughed Ron.

“I’d rather be a swat than a bully,” said Tracy.

“You trying to say something Slytherin?”

“Would I dare?” smirked Tracy going back to her homework.

Ron stormed out of the room followed by Hermione.

“Good riddance,” said Ernie, “now we can get some work done.”

“That’s the fifth time he’s done that,” sighed Beth.

“You’ve got to learn to ignore him Trac,” muttered Theo.

“Why should I?” asked Tracy, “he’s a git, what’s worse he’s a prejudiced git!”

“He’s not bad Tracy, sometimes he says harsh words, but he’s never hurt anyone.”

“You lot should be glad I’m here,” chuckled Tracy, “I’m the only one who can stand up to Ron.”

“She’s right,” chuckled Ernie.

“But Ron’s our friend,” muttered Beth.

“Some friend,” said Susan, “someone who picks on Theo and Tracy, it’s not their fault.”

The next day in charms was very awkward, Hermione clearly wanted to talk to them, but Ron was just ignoring them.

At the end of the lesson just before lunch Ron cornered Beth, Susan and Ernie.

“We need to talk,” sighed Ron.

“Are you going to apologise to Tracy and Theo?” asked Ernie.

“Not bloody likely,” scowled Ron.

“Ron,” muttered Hermione.

“If you’re not going to apologise to them then what do you want?” asked Susan.

“Why do you hang around with those two anyway!”

“Because they’re our friends,’ said Beth.

“But they’re Slytherins!” he screamed.

“You’re Hufflepuffs, you’re good, Slytherins are evil, how can you want to be friends with them!”

“When are you going to learn Ronald that somebodies house doesn’t define them?” pleaded Hermione with tears in her eyes.

“Look,” said Ron ignoring Hermione and trying to keep calm.

“If you want to be friends with me and Hermione, you can’t be friends with Theo and Tracy.”

“You can’t just speak for me like that Ron,” Hermione muttered trying not to make him angrier.

Ron snapped his head at her, and she shut up.

“So, is it us or the Slytherins?”

“I don’t think you’ve really given us much of a choice have you Ron?” sighed Ernie.

“Theo and Tracy are our friends and they haven’t done anything against either of you,” said Susan.

“Come on Hermione,” muttered Ron pulling Hermione away by the hand.

“I can’t believe he hates them so much he’s made us choose,” muttered Beth as Hermione looked back at them tears in her eyes as Ron dragged her away.

“I bloody well can,” said Ernie glaring at Ron as he walked away.

They had Herbology that afternoon with the Ravenclaws, but it wasn’t as long as usual because the students were arriving from the other schools soon.

“What’s with all the long faces?” asked Justin.

“Ron,” said Susan, “he doesn’t want to be friends with us anymore.”

“Well you’re probably well shot of him; he’s always seemed a bit too big for his boots anyway.”

“Thanks Just,” beamed Ernie.

“Right if you can all finish off of what you’re doing,” said Sprout, “we need to go meet the students from the other schools.”

Susan checked Beth’s hair that all the pins were in straight on Beth’s plaits.

“Do you think any of the French girls will be pretty?” asked Ernie.

“They’re French girls,” chuckled Justin.

“Elles sont tres belles.”

“You speak French Justin?”

“Mais naturalment,” shrugged Justin.

“Stop showing off Justin,” groaned Zach.

“You’re just jealous,” chuckled Artie, “because the pretty French girls won’t give you a second look.”

“It’s not my fault all the girls in our year are gay!” muttered Zach.

“Firstly, Hannah’s not gay,” said Susan.

“Secondly, Ginny and Artie only started going out a few weeks ago,” said Ernie.

“And thirdly,” giggled Beth, “there are girls in the other three houses.”

“Yeah well, Hannah’s taken,” grumbled Zach.

At this point a blue carriage came flying down out of the sky.

Eight or so teenage girls with long hair came out of carriage in blue silk robes, followed by three or four boys.

“Justin,” stammered Ernie as he looked at the Beauxbatons students, “could you teach me some French?”

“Has one of the French girls caught your eye?” chortled Justin.

“Not exactly no,” muttered Ernie.

Then the Durmstrung students arrived and it was Cedric’s turn for his mouth to drop.

“Viktor Krum!” he breathed.

“I think Cedric’s a bit of a fan boy,” giggled Susan.

“A bit?” giggled Beth, “he only talked about him all Summer!”

The Beauxbatons students sat down at the Ravenclaw table, and the Durmstrung joined the Slytherins and the food arrived on the table.

“What’s that?” asked Ernie.

“Boeuf bourguingoun,” said Justin.

“Which is?” asked Artie turning her nose up.

“Beef stew, it’s French.”

“Oh well that’s alright then,” beamed Artie as they all ladled some onto their plates.

“What did you think it was? chuckled Justin.

“With French food it could have been snails,” muttered Ginny.

After dinner, Dumbledore took the goblet of fire out of its casket and explained how to enter your name and that there was an age line.

Beth was watching Nick and Nigel whose faces split into identical grins, Cedric was looking longingly at the goblet.

Beth knew that Cedric wanted to be chosen as school champion more than anything in the world.

“You going to enter Ced?” asked Beth.

“Is the pope catholic?” asked Justin.

“Yes to both,” chuckled Cedric as they all headed up to bed.

Beth went to bed early having had a long and emotional day, the next morning they got up early to watch people put their names in the goblet. 

Cedric was already there along with Peter and both were looking very pleased with themselves.

Nick and Nigel were sitting at the Ravenclaw table with Fred and George and they seemed to have at least a hundred pieces of parchment.

“What are you four up to?” asked Beth walking past them.

Beth noticed that half the pieces of parchment had Fred & George Weasley, the other half Nick & Nigel Nightshade.

“Well the only protection they’ve got is an age line,” said Fred.

“So, Nick and Nigel are going to put our names in for us,” said George.

“Why are there so many?” asked Beth.

“The more we put in the better chance we get,” said Nick.

“But why have you put two names on each piece?” giggled Susan.

“Well if they pick one of these out, we’ll both get picked,” said Nigel.

“Hogwarts will get two champions, and we can help our twin brother,” said Fred.

“That lot get worse by the day,” giggled Susan as they went over to their own table.

“What are they up to?” asked Peter.

“They think they’ve found a way to enter in pairs, they want their twin brothers to be picked too.”

“Of course they have,” muttered Cedric as he ate his toast.

“Ced,” said Peter, “have you noticed that Cho Chang’s been giving you the eye recently?”

“Why would he notice,” giggled Susan.

“Hes already got a girlfriend!” agreed Beth.

“Really Ced? Who is she?”

“You wouldn’t know her,” chuckled Cedric.

“Cedric’s got an older woman,” beamed Susan.

“Aw come on,” pleaded Peter, “you’ve got to tell me!”

“Nymphadora Tonks,” said Cedric finally giving in.

Peter choked on his pumpkin juice.

“Tonks!” he exclaimed, “that metamorphmagus girl who left a few years back?”

“Yeah,” nodded Cedric, “she’s an auror now, we started going out over the Summer.”

“But she’s got to be six years older than you!” said peter shaking his head.

“Four and half,” shrugged Cedric.

“Good on you Cedric,” beamed Peter.

“Hey Beth, Susie,” muttered Ernie sitting down.

“Something up Ernie?” asked Beth.

“Can we talk, in um private?”

“Sure,” said Susan finishing off her breakfast.

Beth, Susan and Ernie headed out to the Great Lake and sat down in the edge of it.

“What’s up Ernie?”

“How did you two realise you were gay?” said Ernie blushing.

“It’s not something you decide Ernie,” giggled Beth.

“Beth and I mean a lot to each other, we both realised that our connection was different from friendship.”

“That’s about it really,” shrugged Beth.

“Why do you ask Ernie?” asked Susan.

“I think I might be too,” muttered Ernie staring out across the lake.

“There’s nothing wrong with it Ernie,” said Susan putting an arm around him.

“Remus and Sirius are gay,” Beth pointed out.

“I guess so,” beamed Ernie.

“Now why don’t we see if we can find any of those dashing French boys?” asked Susan.

“Sounds like fun,” said Ernie putting his arm around Susan.

Beth skipped back to the school next to them. 

That evening they couldn’t wait for the end of the feast. Beth, Ernie, Susan and Justin were sat with Cedric and Penny. 

Cedric was getting more nervous by the minute, he had hardly eaten a bite, he just wanted pudding to be over so he could know who had been chosen.

Finally, the plates cleared and the goblet lit up as Dumbledore walked over to it.

He collected the first piece of parchment.

“The champion for Durmstrang is, Viktor Krum!”

“Yes!” said Cedric punching his fist in the air as Viktor walked up to shake Dumbledore’s hand and he left for the next room.

“The champion for Beauxbatons, is Fleur Delcour.”

A pretty girl with a sheet of long blonde hair flounced up to the front and through to the other room with Viktor.

Cedric gripped onto Beth’s hand muttering under his breath, Justin seemed to be praying.

“The Hogwarts champion.”

Dumbledore took a pause and looked at all the expectant students.

“Cedric Diggory!”

“Yes!” yelled Ernie bouncing up from the table and jumping around with Susan.

The Hufflepuff table was so loud, she feared it might burst her eardrums.

Cedric’s mouth was wide open, he’d dreamed about this for months, and now he’d actually been chosen.

“Go on Cedric,” said Beth giving him a huge hug.

Cedric gave her a quick hug and walked up to the front of the Hall to shake Professor Dumbledore’s hand and then join the other champions.

“Congratulations to our three champions,” chuckled Dumbledore as the Hufflepuff’s finally quietened down.

Ernie and Susan both sat down back to Beth both still beaming.

But then a fourth piece of parchment came flying out of the goblet.

“Elizabeth Potter,” whispered Dumbledore, not believing it himself.

“Elizabeth Potter,” called Dumbledore more clearly.

“No,” muttered Susan frantically clinging onto Beth, “no no no!”

“It’s ok Susie,” said Ernie shaking his head, “there’ll have been some mistake.”

“Beth,” said Dumbledore firmly but calmly, “could you come here please.”

Beth gulped slightly and Susan let go of her, they were still all hoping there had been a mistake.

Beth felt a thousand pairs of eyes staring at her as she walked up to the staff table.

She tried to keep her breathing as steady as she could, but she knew a panic attack when she felt one.

Percy’s mouth had dropped open in shock and he was shaking his head in disbelief, Sprout had tears streaming down her cheeks and McGonagall and Vector were trying to comfort her.

She walked up to Dumbledore and stared down at her shoes.

“You know where to go,” he muttered.

Beth walked slowly into the chamber just off the hall, hoping someone would ask her to turn back around as there had been a mistake.

Cedric was standing in the room, still beaming with excitement, Viktor was talking to Fleur.

“Beth?” muttered Cedric.

“What are you doing here?”

Beth ran over to him and fell into his arms sobbing.

Viktor and Fleur looked at each other in deep confusion.

“Hey there Beth, I’m sure it’s not so bad, what’s the matter?”

Beth just continued to sob into him.

“For Merlin’s sake, what happened Beth, has somebody died?”

“They’re making me compete,” she sobbed.

“What?” asked Cedric hoping he’d misheard her.

“They’re making her compete Cedric,” said Sprout as she came in with Dumbledore, McGonagall, Percy, Moody, Madame Maxime and Karkarof.

“No,” muttered Cedric, clinging onto her.

“She’s just a kid, she can’t enter the tournament.”

“Her names come out Diggory,” growled Moody, “she has to compete, she’s got no choice.”

“But she is just a little girl,” exclaimed Fleur, “she is too young!”

“She must have had one of the other students put it in for her,” said Maxime.

“My dear Madame Maxime,” sighed Dumbledore indicating Beth who was still crying and clutching onto Cedric, “does Beth look like she actually wants to be here?”

“Well I suppose not,” muttered Maxime.

“She could be acting,” said Karkaroff.

“And you’d know all about acting innocent wouldn’t you Karkaroff,” growled Moody.

“Not now,” said Dumbledore firmly, glaring at them both.

“Beth has to compete whether she likes it or not,” sighed Dumbledore.

“We’ve all had a long night, Pamona, why don’t you take young Cedric and Beth back to their common room?”

“Yes of course headmaster,” muttered Sprout putting her hand gently on Cedric’s shoulder.

She shepherded Cedric back to the Common Room, Cedric was still clutching onto Beth’s shoulders as is if, if he let go, she would just disappear.

“It’s alright Cedric, the headmaster’s going to try and sort this out, I promise.”

“But what if he can’t?”

“Then I’m afraid Beth will have to compete,” sighed Sprout.

“But she’ll die!” shouted Cedric.

Sprout looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

“That’s probably the reason they entered Beth in the first place,” muttered Cedric.

“I’m afraid so, probably yes.”

“Cedric, Beth is not going to die,” said Sprout firmly as they got to the Common Room, “I promise you.”

“Why don’t you both meet me in my office, tomorrow morning, ten o’clock, we’ll see what we can do.”

“Alright,” muttered Cedric.

“Go on Cedric, they’ll all be waiting for you,” she said trying to smile through her tears.

“You ready to face them Beth?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she mumbled.

“Come on then,” said Cedric putting an arm around her waist as they both walked into the Common Room.

“So what happened Ced?” asked Julie.

“Does Hufflepuff have one champion or two?” nodded Charlie.

“Two,” sighed Cedric, “they’re making Beth compete.”

“They can’t!” stammered Susan rushing forward towards the front of the crowd.

“They can and they are,” said Cedric firmly.

“So, are we having a party then?” asked one of the third years.

“I’m not really in the mood for a party,” mumbled Beth.

“Another time mate yeah?” asked Cedric.

The girl shrugged and the crowd dispersed.

“You’re not serious are you Ced?” asked Peter shaking his head, “she’s only fourteen.”

“We don’t know how she got in, but she’s in and the contracts binding.”

Cedric let go off Beth and she rushed over to Susan.

“It’s ok Beth,” sobbed Susan, “you’ll be ok.”

Beth and Susan went up to their dorm. Artie, Ginny and Hannah had already moved two of the beds together so they could all pile in.

“When the going gets tough we stick together,” said Artie.

“Thanks guys,” muttered Beth hoping onto the bed.

Susan got under the covers next to Beth, and the other three girls got in too. Beth fell asleep in Susan’s arms, she knew that whatever happened over the next year she was going to be fine.


	22. The Day After

Beth woke up in Susan’s arms, Ginny and Artie were at the other end of the bed, Artie was sprawled out and Ginny was snuggled into her, Hannah was sleeping peacefully between them all.

It was only five o’clock, but she had been sleeping restlessly all night, she could hear the wind whistling and the rain pounding against the windows. This ominous weather had started up last night at about the time that Beth’s name had been pulled out of the goblet

She slipped out of bed as quietly and carefully as she could, trying not to wake up any of the others, and got dressed in a jumper and pair of jeans before grabbing her invisibility cloak and her bag which had her mirror, her sketchbook and her copy of Anne of Green Gables in it. She had nearly finished off the illustrations, she only had one left to draw.

She put her cloak in her bag because she didn’t know what the other houses reactions were going to be to her getting picked as a champion.

The fire was already burning even at this time in the morning, she settled down in front of the fire and got out her sketchbook. She finished drawing the last illustration for the book of Anne and Gilbert walking home together.

She finished the drawing and it was still only a quarter to six, she put her sketchbook and pencils away and stared into the flames for a while.

“Hey there little Sis,” said Cedric sitting down next to her.

“You couldn’t sleep either?”

“No,” she muttered not looking away from the fire.

Cedric put his arm around her and stared into the fire for a while too.

“Beth,” he said carefully.

“Hmmm?”

“We need to tell Remus and Sirius about last night?”

“Why?” she groaned.

“Because, they have to know, if you don’t tell them Dumbledore probably will.”

Beth sighed heavily and pulled her mirror out of her bag.

Cedric and Beth sat down on one of the sofas as Beth got out the mirror.

“Sirius!”

No answer.

“Sirius!”

“Where’s the fire!” he called drowsily.

“Hey there Lilybeth,” he beamed rubbing his eyes, “thanks for the alarm call.”

“Whats up?”

“Beth and I need to talk to you and Remus.”

“Oh hey Ced, I’ll just go call him, he’s shaving.”

Sirius left the mirror for a minute and came back a moment later with Remus who had just finished shaving and was wearing his dressing gown.

“Morning Cariad, hi Cedric,” beamed Remus.

“What you both doing up at this time in the morning?” 

“Did you get chosen as the Hogwarts champion Ced?” chuckled Sirius.

“Well yes and no,” muttered Cedric biting his lip and gripping onto Beth’s shoulder.

“What are you talking about?” laughed Sirius.

Remus looked to Beth who was being strangely quiet even for Beth, she also looked like she hadn’t slept much.

“Beth sweetheart,” said Remus, “what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she muttered staring down at her shoes, “everything’s fine.”

“Beth,” smirked Sirius, “I know when you’re lying, your cheeks go red, Lily’s used to too.”

“It’s ok Beth,” said Cedric gently ruffling her hair slightly.

“There isn’t just one Hogwarts champion,” Cedric said slowly, “there’s two.”

“What are you talking Cedric?” asked Remus.

“Did the Nightshades plan work!” exclaimed Sirius, “is it Fred and George or Nick and Nigel?”

“You know about that?” asked Cedric confused.

“I helped them come up with it,” chortled Sirius his eyes lit up.

“Sirius, we are getting off the point, let Cedric say what he has to say.”

“Right,” muttered Cedric, “well there are two champions, me.”

“Well done Cedric, knew you had it in you!” exclaimed Sirius.

“And?” asked Remus raising his eyebrows.

“Beth,” he mumbled.

“Say that again Cedric I think I misheard you,” said Sirius still laughing and beaming.

“Beth, Beth’s name came out of the goblet last night.”

“What!” screamed Sirius.

“Well what are they doing about it! She’s just a kid she can’t compete! How did she get entered in the first place! Dumbledore’s got to be able to do something!!”

“Calm down Sirius,” Remus muttered.

“Calm down!” screamed Sirius, “calm down!”

“There’s nothing anyone can do!” cried Cedric, “she has to compete, Dumbledore’s already tried.”

“That’s it!” yelled Sirius.

“Beth go up to your room and pack, we’re coming to get you!”

Remus took a deep breath and sighed.

“You two just stay where you are alright, we’re on our way.”

The mirror turned off and Cedric found themselves looking at their own reflections.

“They’re not really going to make me leave, are they?” she stammered.

“I don’t know Beth,” sighed Cedric.

“I think we should go talk to Sprout though.”

“It’s only half seven,” she muttered, “she’s not expecting us for another three hours.”

“I think Sprout might want a warning about the unexpected visitors that is Sirius in a rage.”

“Hmmm.”

Cedric put his arm around Beth’s tiny waist and picked up her bag.

They walked out of the Common Room together and went to Sprout’s office.

Cedric knocked firmly on her office door.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” called Sprout frantically.

Professor Sprout opened her door and was still wearing her robes from the night before. She had huge bags under her eyes and her hair was even more frazzled than usual.

“Cedric,” she sighed smiling tiredly, “Beth, you don’t look like you’ve had a wink of sleep between you.”

“Whereas you Professor,” chuckled Cedric raising his eyebrows, “haven’t even made it to bed in the first place.”

Sprout looked slightly affronted for a second before her face split into an smile.

“You’re right Cedric,” she laughed.

“I’ve been up all night trying to think of a way to get Beth out of the tournament, I’ve also been trying to figure out how to break the news to Remus and Sirius.”

“They already know,” muttered Beth.

“They’re on their way, and Sirius is furious.”

“Oh Merlin,” sighed Sprout.

“Cedric, Beth why don’t you come in and take a seat, I need to call Minerva quickly, she’s got more experience at dealing with Sirius and she might be able to help.”

“Sounds like a plan Professor,” chuckled Cedric eagerly taking an excuse to leave.

“Sit down dear,” said Sprout.

“I’ll just go find some tea,” she said leaving her office to go to the kitchen down the corridor.

Beth stared down at her shoes as she sat down and pulled at a loose lock of hair.

A few minutes later Sprout came back in with a large tea tray followed by Cedric and Professor McGonagall who was still in her dressing gown.

“I suppose you haven’t had any brain waves Pamona?” asked McGonagall.

“Brain waves?”

“Ideas on how to get Miss Potter out of this ruddy tournament?”

“I’m afraid not no,” sighed Sprout.

“The one thing I do know, is there is only one way both of you are going to make it through this tournament in one piece.”

“Whats that Professor?” asked Cedric.

“You two are going to have to work together,” said Sprout, “if you work as a team you have a chance.”

“Of winning!” exclaimed Cedric excitedly.

“Of surviving,” corrected McGonagall.

“Oh,” muttered Cedric slightly crestfallen.

“Also I am going to help you in any way I can,” said Sprout.

“And so am I!” said McGonagall, “you may not be Gryffindors, but you are still my students.”

“But isn’t that cheating?” asked Cedric, “aren’t we supposed to be doing the tasks without any help?”

“Cedric,” sighed Sprout, “would you say that Beth being entered in this contest in the first place is fair?”

“No Professor,” he admitted.

“So do you think its fair that we help her a little more?”

“I suppose so,” he muttered still unconvinced.

“Mr Diggory,” said McGonagall firmly, “if you think that the other champions aren’t going to be getting any help you are severely wrong. Cheating is as big a part of the tournament as the Yule Ball itself.”

“If you both help,” stammered Cedric, “and if Beth and I work together.”

Cedric gulped heavily and gripped onto Beth’s shoulders.

“Do you think she’s going to live until the end of this thing?”

“It’s the best chance Miss Potter has Mr Diggory.”

“Alright,” he muttered.

“Where the hell is she!” screamed a voice from out in the corridor.

“Oh Merlin,” whispered Sprout.

“Here we go,” said McGonagall taking a deep breath.

“Cedric, why don’t you go get yourself some breakfast, don’t worry, Beth’s not going anywhere.”

“You sure you’ll be ok Beth?”

“Hmmm.”

“See you in a bit little sis,” he chuckled kissing her on top of the head.

Cedric went to open the door and found a very frantic Sirius who was followed by a breathless Remus who had been running to keep up with Sirius.

“Cedric!” yelled Sirius rushing over to him and practically shaking him.

“Where’s our little girl!” he screamed.

“She’s in there,” he stammered pointing towards Sprouts office door which was still wide open.

“Beth!” he said running into the office.

“Sit down please Sirius,” said McGonagall firmly, “you too Remus.”

Sirius and Remus sat down on either side of Beth.

“Come here Cariad,” said Remus holding her close.

At this point Beth finally burst into tears and sobbed into him.

“Shhhh,” he muttered softly, “it’s ok little one, I’m here now, it’s alright.”

“Well where’s your trunk Lilybeth?” asked Sirius looking around in confusion.

Remus looked up at his partner in exasperation, still holding Beth close as Beth stopped crying.

“She’s not leaving Sirius,” said McGonagall, “she’s staying here.”

“So you’ve managed to get her out of the tournament then?” he asked sighing in relief.

“No,” said Sprout, “she has to compete.”

“You’re crazy!” he screamed, “you’re all fucking crazy!!”

Beth started to shake slightly and flinch away from Sirius. Sirius was getting mad, and he might hurt her.

“Calm down Sirius,” muttered Remus cautiously.

“Calm down yourself Remus,” spat Sirius glaring at Remus.

“You’re scaring the child,” said Remus as he tried to soothe a shaking Beth.

“But that’s just the point!” exclaimed Sirius, “she’s just a child! She can’t compete in something like this.”

“Mr Black, her name has come out of the goblet,” said Sprout, “she has no choice.”

“Which is why she is leaving right now!” shouted Sirius banging his fist on the table and standing up.

“Sirius Orion Black!” said McGonagall sternly pulling her wand out of her dressing gown pocket.

“Sit down and calm down right now!”

“Yes Professor,” stammered Sirius sitting back down again and taking a deep breath to calm down.

“It’s alright Beth,” muttered Remus calming Beth down, “nobody’s going to hurt you.”

“Sorry Remi, sorry Beth,” mumbled Sirius blushing.

“As we have already discussed with Cedric, the only way for Beth to make it through this tournament is if she gets an awful lot of help, Cedric, Minerva and I are already going to be helping her.”

“Of course, we’ll help,” sighed Remus, “but we’d rather out little girl wasn’t in this thing to begin with!”

“I know what you mean Remus,” nodded McGonagall, “but I’m afraid there is simply nothing to be done about it. As soon as we know anything at all about the first task, we’ll all get our heads together.”

“Until then,” said Sprout.

“Keep our heads down and keep calm!” 

McGonagall looked directly at Sirius as she said this.

“Alright fine Minnie!” sighed Sirius giving in.

“I’ll keep calm.”

“And?”

“Stop threatening to pull Beth out of school,” he mumbled.

“That’s enough to be getting on with,” nodded McGonagall.

“Beth,” asked Sprout, “do you want to talk to your Uncles for a while before they have to go?”

“Come on little one,” said Remus putting his arm around Beth, “let’s go for a walk.”

They walked out of the office and out towards the lake, it was nine o’clock in the morning now so there were quite a few people awake.

Remus had his arm around Beth and Sirius trailed behind them his hands in his jacket pockets.

Whenever they passed anyone, they would either glare at Beth or try and avoid as if she infected with the plague.

If anyone glared at Beth, Sirius made sure to give them an extra malicious glare back.

“Right then Cariad,” said Remus as she sat between them on the edge of the great lake.

“What are we going to do Uncle Remus,” she mumbled as she pulled her knees into her chest.

“I don’t really know Lilybeth,” sighed Sirius.

“But Cedric’s going to help, and Sprout,” said Remus putting his arm around both of them, “and you can call us on the mirror whenever you need us.”

“Ok,” she mumbled.

She settled into Remus arms and looked out across the lake dazedly only half concentrating.

“The dream!” she exclaimed.

“The what?” asked Sirius whipping his head around.

“The dream from over the summer,” Beth said slowly trying to fit the pieces together, “it mentioned the tournament.”

“So Voldemort’s put you into this thing?” stammered Sirius.

“Probably not Voldemort himself Siri, he would have had someone do it for him,” muttered Remus.

“Well at least we know what we’re up against,” sighed Remus.

“Didn’t they also say that I’d be dead by the end of the year?” asked Beth.

“Not if I’ve got anything to do with it,” growled Sirius, “we’re going to be ready for him!”

“We should be getting home,” said Remus giving Beth a kiss on the head.

They walked to the edge of the grounds, where Remus and Sirius could apparate from.

“Goodbye Lilybeth,” said Sirius giving her hug, “keep your chin up!”

“Be careful sweetheart,” said Remus holding her close.

Beth clung onto Remus and it seemed for a few minutes like neither of them would ever let go.

“Moony,” Sirius interrupted, “we’ve got to go.”

“Oh yeah of course,” muttered Remus letting go of Beth and trying to hold off his tears until they got home.

Beth waved goodbye as they both dissapparated.

She took a deep breath and walked up towards the school. Every now and then she would pass someone who would glare at her or try and shout insults at her, but she just ignored them, she was going to have to get used to that.

All she wanted right now was to get up to the Room of Requirement where she knew that Susan, Ernie and possibly even Theo and Tracy would be waiting for her.

She had just got to the second floor when she was stopped.

“Hey Potter!”

“Just keep walking,” she muttered staring down at her shoes.

“Oi!” yelled Ron standing in front of her, “you cant just ignore me.”

“Leave her Ron,” begged Hermione.

Beth tried to sidestep Ron but he pulled his wand out threateningly.

“You know Hermione,” he said turning towards Hermione, “I always told you those Hufflepuffs were weird for wanting to hang out with Slytherins.”

“But now it all makes sense, they’ve been doing the dirty work for them, Beth’s little Slytherin friends have found a way for her to enter the tournament.”

“Ron,” Hermione mumbled.

“You know I don’t know whose more of lousy cheating scumbag,” mused Ron, “Malfoy, or Beth?”

“Ronald Weasley!” yelled a voice, but it wasn’t Hermione’s that time.

Ron had decided to pick an argument with Beth right outside Percy’s office.

“In!” said Percy, his eyes on fire like his mother’s when she was angry.

Ron rolled his eyes and walked into his brother’s office followed by Beth and Hermione.

“I thought you three were supposed to be friends?” glowered Percy glaring at Ron.

“Not anymore,” spat Ron.

“Can one of you please explain to me what in the world is going on here?”

Hermione looked from Ron who was sulking, to Beth who was staring down at her shoes.

“Ron doesn’t want to be friends with Beth and the Hufflepuffs anymore,” sighed Hermione.

“Is this a recent development?” asked Percy folding his arms across his chest.

“Fairly recent yeah,” muttered Ron, “I asked Beth to choose between Hermione and me or her Slytherin friends.”

“Theo and Tracy,” Beth mumbled.

“I see,” sighed Percy, “and I presume Beth wondered why you were making her pick in the first place, but if you made her choose, she chose the Slytherins?”

“That’s about it yes,” said Hermione.

“Right, and now you’re saying that the Slytherins helped Beth enter the tournament?”

“Theo’s clever enough,” said Ron, “and they’re all sneaky enough.”

“I just don’t understand why Beth, Ernie and Susan would want to be friends with them in the first place, Hufflepuff’s are just too trusting.”

“So Slytherins are sneaky,” said Percy counting on his fingers, “Hufflepuffs are overly trusting.”

“Any problems with Ravenclaws?” he asked curiously.

“Well they’re stuck up, know it alls,” shrugged Ron.

“So surprise surprise, the only house you don’t hate is your own.”

“I’ve got a question for you Ron,” said Percy looking his brother straight in the eye.

“Where did you learn all this rubbish?”

“Fred and George,” mumbled Ron.

“Well that surprises no one,” sighed Hermione.

“Ok Ron, what house is our little sister in?”

“Hufflepuff,” mumbled Ron.

“And is Ginny overly trusting?”

“Not really,” he mumbled.

“Ok next question, who are Fred and George’s best friends?”

“Lee, Cedric, Nick and Nigel.”

“Only one of which is a Gryffindor. Would you say that Nick or Nigel are unsufferable know it all’s?”

“No,” shrugged Ron.

“So, if you’re assumptions about the other houses are wrong, is it feasible that you were wrong about the Slytherins as well?”

“Dunno know,” muttered Ron.

“Well Ron all I do know, is that even if you did want to be friends with Beth, after the way you’ve been treating her I wouldn’t be surprised if she wouldn’t take you back.”

“What I’m even more surprised about, is that Hermione is still friends with you.”

It was now Ron’s turn to look down at his shoes.

“Get out of here both of you,” muttered Percy pointing towards the door.

Ron and Hermione both got up from their chairs and left the office without saying another word.

“First of all Beth, I want you to realise that all of Ron’s opinions on the other houses are complete and utter rubbish.”

“I know that,” muttered Beth looking up at him.

“And secondly, Ron may have decided to no longer be your friend, but you’ve got the full support of all the overs, all eight of them, and we are going to help you anyway you can.”

“And as for you being friends with Slytherins, good on you I say, more people should give it a try. Not all Slytherins are from the same model as Draco Malfoy.”

“I know that!” giggled Beth.

“That’s the Beth that I know,” beamed Percy as Beth’s face lit up as she giggled.

“And as the Pythons always say, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, keep looking for that bright side, it’ll show up eventually.”


	23. Half Truths

Beth’s life had somehow become a misery, every single time she left the Common Room, she was shunned by the rest of the school.

She didn’t know was worse, the Slytherins taunting her telling she would be lucky to survive ten minutes into the first task, or Ron and his friend Seamus hissing at her whenever she walked by.

She didn’t know what was worse, the taunting or the fact that the fan club seemed to be growing, nearly everyone in Hufflepuff was wearing badges that flashed between Cedric Diggory and Beth Potter.

Beth was at her usual table with Susan, Ernie and Justin. It was the last lesson of the week and they were pruning a flutterby bush.

“Be careful not to scare them,” said Sprout as Terry Boot prodded his bush with his wand.

At this moment Cedric came bursting into the greenhouse breathless from having run down from the castle.

“What on earth could be the matter Cedric?” asked Sprout shaking her head.

“They need to see all the champions professor, immediately,” he stammered catching his breath back.

“What?” asked Sprout confused, the first task wasn’t for nearly a fortnight.

“I don’t know Professor, all I do know, is that Flitwick told me that Beth and I had to go to a meeting now and bring our things with us.”

Beth looked between Sprout and Cedric pleadingly, all she wanted right now was to stay in class.

“Well I suppose you’d best go then dear,” sighed Sprout somewhat reluctantly as Susan passed Beth her bag.

“I’ll see you after class,” said Susan pulling her in for a quick hug.

“It won’t be the end of the world,” chuckled Ernie, “it’s not as if they can enter you again!”

“Not helping Ernie,” muttered Justin smirking.

“Come on little Sis,” sighed Cedric putting his arm around Beth.

“How you holding up kiddo?”

“Not great, the fan club are fawning over me.”

“More than usual you mean?”

“Yeah much more than usual,” said Beth shaking her head.

“The Slytherins are taunting me, some of the Gryffindors are hissing at me of all things, and the Ravenclaws might be the worst of the lot, they’re just giving me the silent treatment.”

“Well theres something to look forward to, in less than two weeks, hopefully everyone will realise that you would either have to be stupid or reckless to enter yourself in this tournament.”

“Whys that?”

“Because in two weeks we’ve got the first task,” sighed Cedric as they reached the empty classroom

“Do you have any idea what going on in there Ced?”

“Nope but there’s only one way to find out.”

Cedric pulled open the door and found himself facing a platinum blonde witch with bejewelled glasses.

“Um excuse me have we got the right room?”

“And who would you be young man?”

“Cedric Diggory, and Beth Potter, Hogwarts champions.”

“Ah Beth!” exclaimed the witch getting up to shake Beth’s hand.

“I’m Rita Skeeter, it’s an honour to meet you of course.”

“Um hi,” stammered Beth staring down at her shoes.

“Look I’m sorry but who are you?” asked Cedric raising his eyebrows.

“Daily Prophet reporter,” beamed Skeeter showing her gold tooth.

“Ah,” muttered Cedric, “so you must be the Skeeter Dad’s always going on about.”

Skeeter beamed at him slightly sickeningly.

“I was wondering if I could have a word with you Beth?” asked Skeeter gesturing towards a broom closet.

Beth bit her lip and gripped onto Cedric’s wrist.

“Beth’s not going anywhere without me,” said Cedric firmly.

“Touchy, aren’t we?” sniggered Skeeter.

Cedric firmly held his ground and looked her straight in the eye.

“Have it your way then,” shrugged Rita as she ushered both Cedric and Beth into the broom closet.

“So,” beamed Skeeter getting out her quick quotes quill and smiling at them both, “you’re both Hufflepuffs, known each other a long time?”

“I guess so,” muttered Beth, “I’ve known him since first year.”

“And would you say that you get on well?”

“Yeah Beth’s great,” beamed Cedric putting his arm back around her, “she’s like part of the family, even stayed with us for a few weeks over the Summer.”

“Really?” asked Rita her eyes lighting up excitedly.

“Yeah, I stayed with the Diggory’s for a few weeks, Sirius needed some time to get better from Azkaban and Uncle Remus stayed with him.”

“Fascinating, fascinating,” she muttered sucking at her quill, “it must have been a very confusing and upsetting year for you last year, Sirius Black the man who betrayed your parents escaping from Azkaban and trying to track you down all year, only for it to be Peter Pettigrew all along.”

“I knew that I’d be fine,” shrugged Beth, “Remus was looking out for me.”

“How do you think that your parents would feel about you entering the tournament if they were alive?”

“How’s she supposed to be able to answer that!” stammered Cedric, “she can’t even remember them!”

“Is this a private meeting or can anyone join?” asked Dumbledore poking his head around the door.

“Professor!” sighed Cedric in relief.

“Dumbledore!” laughed Rita shoving her quill and parchment back in her bag.

“How wonderful to see you,” she beamed showing every one of her gleaming teeth.

“A delight as always Miss Skeeter, but Miss Potter and Mr Diggory need to come out here for the ceremony.”

“What ceremony sir?” asked Beth as they left the cupboard.

“The weighing of the wands,” explained Dumbledore.

Whilst they had been getting their interview in the closet, Victor, Karkaroff, Fleur and Madame Maxime had all arrived.

Fleur was looking down her nose at Beth haughtily, and Victor was eyeing them both slightly suspiciously.

“What’s that?” asked Victor.

“Well, we have to check that all your wands are in working order before the tournament begins.”

They all handed their wands over to Mr Olivander who inspected all their wands, this was followed by official photographs.  
Beth had hoped that this would be the end of it, but not twenty-four hours later on the Saturday evening, Beth was sat eating dinner with Susan, Justin and Ernie.

“Hi,” said Cedric flopping himself down.

“Di hi,” finished Justin automatically as he opened the paper.

“God in heaven!” stammered Justin as he stared at the front page.

“What’s up Just?” asked Ernie through a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

Justin faltered for a moment and passed the paper between Beth and Susan.

On the front page of the Evening Prophet was the headline Tri Wizard Tournament- The Hogwarts Champions.

Beneath the headline was a photograph of Beth and Cedric, everyone else had been cropped out. Cedric had his arm around Beth, and they were both laughing at a joke Professor Dumbledore had just told.

“Best get the worst over with,” muttered Beth passing the paper to Cedric.

Cedric cleared his throat slightly before he began to read.

“The Tri Wizard Tournament, The Hogwarts Champions. That’s right readers, Hogwarts has not one champion but two, Cedric Diggory eighteen who is an aspiring Quidditch seeker and Beth Potter thirteen, known to us all as the Girl Who Lived, and the person who defeated You Know Who as a baby.

Both Cedric and Beth are Hufflepuffs and have known each other for a number of years. They became close friends in Beth’s first year at school a few years ago.

As we all know Beth has had a difficult childhood, her parents dying when she was baby, being brought up by muggles, before eventually being brought home by her Uncle Remus Lupin, a friend of her parents and Beth’s godfather a few years ago.

It seems though, that Beth is still not completely happy with her homelife. If Beth had been so important to her godfather, why was she sent to live with muggles in the first place?

There is also the problem of what happened over this summer.

“Uncle Sirius needed a holiday after being in Azkaban for so long, Uncle Remus had missed him so Remus went on holiday with him. I didn’t go with them because I would have got in the way.”

But do not despair dear readers, Beth was left in good hands whilst Mr Lupin and Mr Black went on their jolly holiday. Beth spent a fortnight at the Diggory’s with Cedric’s family.

“Beth’s like part of the family,” said Cedric, “we all loved having her to stay. Mum loves showering her with all the love that she’s been missing after being neglected for so long.”

From talking to young Cedric and Beth, it seems that they both seem to view each other as siblings they never had, both being older children. But after talking to them for a while longer it seems clear to me that there might be something more there. I believe that Cedric and Beth, despite their five-year age gap are in love.

Now don’t scoff, the pieces fit together, how else would Beth have been able to enter herself in the tournament?

My belief is that Beth had her boyfriend put her name into the goblet at the same time as his own, Cedric who is eighteen was old enough to cross the age line.

But of course, I am not complaining, Hogwarts has two champions rather than one, although it does seem in my opinion that this is a very dangerous competition for Beth to be entering at the ripe age of thirteen.

The other two champions are Miss Fleare Dalcoure and Viktor Crumb.”

“Jesus Fucking Christ!” muttered Ernie who was still holding a forkful of mashed potatoes halfway to his mouth.

“Well said Ernie,” nodded Justin.

“It’s lies,” said Cedric shaking his head, “it’s all lies!”

“Not all of it Ced,” muttered Beth.

“What you talking about Beth?” asked Ernie.

“Well I do see Cedric as my big brother, and he calls me little sis all the time, everyone knows that.”

“Yes but there’s an awful lot of lies within those half-truths,” said Justin, “I mean she’s even got both your ages wrong.”

“You’re not neglected at home,” assured Susan hugging Beth close, “Remus and Sirius love you.”

“I know that,” mumbled Beth.

“And as for the other thing,” said Cedric smirking slightly, “firstly, even if we were the same age you wouldn’t even be interested in me then, I’m the wrong sex.”

“That’s true,” beamed Beth.


	24. How To Fight Your Dragon

It was Monday morning and Beth was sat in History of Magic, but she wasn’t really paying attention properly, she had the first task tomorrow and she had no idea what it was. By tomorrow lunch time she could easily be dead.

“And so, Ufard the Unready and his army of goblins are ready for another attack,” beamed Percy leaning against the desk, “see you all next week and we’ll find out what happens.”

“Beth, can I talk to you for a moment?”

Susan nudged Beth and got her attention.

“Percy wants to talk to you,” she whispered.

“Oh right,” muttered Beth somewhat confused.

Had she done something wrong?

“I’ll see you at lunch,” beamed Susan before leaving Beth and Percy alone in the classroom.

“Is there something wrong, is it my homework?” panicked Beth.

“No it’s not,” said Percy grinning slightly.

“If its about me not paying attention today im really sorry, im just distracted.”

“About the task tomorrow,” finished Percy knowingly.

Beth grinned sheepishly.

“Well you’re in luck Beth, because I know what it is.”

Beth looked at him slightly confused.

“Well more specifically, Charlie does, it’s dragons, he brought them in last night and he told me this morning. Charlie thought you might want a warning, four dragons one for each of you.”

“I have to fight a dragon?” stammered Beth.

“Well not exactly no,” chuckled Percy, “you’ve just got to get past it. I wish you luck, now you’d best get moving we’ve both got classes.”

“Thanks Percy,” said Beth giving him a quick hug before running off to Arithmancy.

“You seem to be in a good mood,” said Tracy as Beth sat down at their shared desk.

“I’ll tell you later,” beamed Beth.

Tracy merely shrugged as they got their textbook out.

At lunch Cedric was sitting with Penny. Cedric was trying to eat his lunch whilst trying to write a potions essay, he was just as nervous about the task tomorrow as Beth was, but he was trying to distract himself.

“Hey Ced,” said Beth sitting down opposite him.

“Hey,” said Cedric not even looking up from his textbook.

“What have you got to be so pleased about?” smirked Penny, “haven’t you got to face an unknown threat in less than twenty four hours?”

“Not as unknown as it might be,” shrugged Beth.

Penny looked at her interestedly, and Cedric whipped his head away from his essay.

“What is it?” asked Cedric wanting to get the worst over with.

“Dragons,” said Beth.

“You serious?” asked Cedric.

“Yeah, Charlie told Percy this morning,” nodded Beth.

“I know we need to work together, but if we both fight the dragon the same way it will be too obvious,” muttered Cedric.

“How about the conjunctivitis curse?” asked Penny.

Cedric and Beth looked at her curiously.

“Dragons weak points are their eyes,” said Penny as if nothing could be more obvious.

“Right Beth, you work on that tonight, I’ll figure something else out.”

Beth didn’t know how she made it through defence that afternoon, but after defence she met her study group in the room of requirement.

Since Ron had decided to ditch them a month ago, Justin had joined them. Justin and Ron had never exactly got on, probably something to do with Ron calling Justin a posh upper-class twat on the first week of their first year. So now the group consisted of Beth, Susan, Ernie, Justin, Theo and Tracy.

They still had to meet up in the room of requirement though, as Theo wasn’t supposed to be friends with the Hufflepuffs in the first place.

“Ok Beth whats up?” asked Ernie.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” shrugged Beth.

“Well until Percy kept you behind after History, you were acting like a scared rabbit,” said Justin.

“But since then, you’re almost back to your usual self,” agreed Susan.

“I know what I have to face tomorrow,” said Beth.

“Well go on then spill the beans,” said Justin.

“The suspense is killing us,” agreed Tracy.

“A dragon.”

Susan flinched slightly.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” muttered Ernie.

“My sentiments exactly,” said Justin.

“Any ideas on how to get past it?” asked Susan.

“Well the eyes are its weak point; Penny suggested the conjunctivitis curse.”

“Right that’s it,” sighed Ernie, “homework away everyone, tonight we learn how to fight a dragon!”

Almost the second he said it, several books on dragons appeared on the table, as well as several detailed books on the theory behind the conjunctivitis curse.

“I will never get over how amazing this room is!” beamed Tracy as she opened one of the books.

“Well Penny was right,” said Susan as she flicked through a book on dragons, “the eyes are its weak point.”

Beth was making a list of useful spells to learn.

“You’re pretty good at accio, that could be useful, just summon whatever you want,” said Ernie.

“Which do you suggest, a fire extinguisher or a sword?” asked Justin.

“I cant hurt the dragon,” chuckled Beth, “but the fire extinguishers a good point so I don’t get burnt.”

“How about augimenti instead?” suggested Theo.

“Perfect,” said Beth adding it to the list.

“Conjunctivitus doesn’t actually blind the dragon,” said Tracy as she read about it, “just gives it a temporary eye infection, what you really need is a disillusionment charm.”

“But that’s really complicated Trac, and she’s only got till tomorrow morning,” said Theo.

“Actually, if its invisibility you’re looking for I think we’ve already got that one covered,” chuckled Ernie.

“What are you talking about?” asked Theo.

Beth smiled slightly as she pulled her cloak out of her bag.

“You’ve got an invisibility cloak?” breathed Tracy.

“And so much is suddenly explained,” said Justin shaking his head, “that’s how you three sneak out for adventures.”

“Spot on Just,” beamed Ernie.

“But that would be cheating if I had that on me during the task,” said Beth.

“Not if you summoned it,” said Susan, “if I have it on me in the stands, all you have to do is cast a quick summoning charm.”

“It’s a bit sneaky, an invisibility cloak,” muttered Beth.

“Isnt the aim to get you out of this tournament as quickly and safely as possible?” asked Ernie.

“I suppose so,” shrugged Beth.

“Well then, if the cloak can do that then use it,” said Ernie.

“It’s not cheating,” assured Tracy, “all your allowed is your wand, but you can still summon other stuff with that wand.”

“We’ve got some pretty good stuff on the conjunctivitis curse here,” said Theo.

“So, who wants to be the first test subject?” asked Ernie.

“I’m not doing anything until I know if you lot have got a counter curse,” said Justin ominously. 

“Right here,” chuckled Theo.

“I’ll go first,” said Susan, “I trust you.”

“If anything goes to bad, I’ll go for Pomfrey,” said Ernie smirking slightly.

Beth looked over at them all nervously.

“You’ve got to practise Beth; you’re facing a dragon tomorrow.”

“Right,” said Beth taking a steadying breath.

They stayed up all night, practising the conjunctivitis and augimenti curses.

They didn’t go back to their dorms but stayed in the Room of Requirement. 

At breakfast that morning, there was two very drowsy fourth years at the Slytherin table. Tracy had fallen asleep in her bowl of cornflakes.

The Hufflepuffs weren’t much more awake, but Beth was having to keep up because she had to compete in the first challenge in only a few hours.

“Drink this,” said Ernie passing around cups of coffee, “it’ll help.”

Justin shrugged and sipped at the coffee.

Beth took a small sip and choked on the coffee.

“It’s disgusting,” she choked.

“It’s an acquired taste that’s for sure,” said Susan grimacing slightly.

“But at the moment all that matters is you staying awake until ten o’clock for the challenge, got to keep you wits about you.”

“He’s right sis,” chuckled Cedric sitting down next to them, “drink up.”

Beth shook her head and held her nose before downing the cup of coffee.

“Ugh,” muttered Beth shaking her head as she put the cup down.

“This will help,” chuckled Cedric, passing her a plate of breakfast, “it will get rid of the taste.”

“So how are you going to deal with this dragon?”

“A combination of conjunctivitis, water, and getting what I need.”

“Well that doesn’t sound ominous at all,” muttered Cedric.

“You know what you’re going to do?” asked Susan.

“I’m going to try and transfigure one of the rocks into a dog.”

“Sounds like a plan,” nodded Ernie.

“There you lot are,” said Zach as he came down for breakfast with Neville, Artie, Hannah and Ginny.

“We’ve been worried about you,” stammered Hannah, “you were missing.”

“I told you they’d all be fine,” said Cedric shaking his head.

“What have you been up to?” asked Ginny grinning.

“Been up to adventures without us again?” asked Artie.

“You’ll find out in a bit,” said Ernie tapping his nose knowingly.

“Speaking of which Beth, we’d best get going,” sighed Cedric.

“Good luck Beth,” said Susan giving her a huge hug.

“See you on the other side Beth,” said Ernie patting her on the back.

Cedric and Beth headed off down to the Quidditch pitch where there was tent set up next to the stands.

They went into the tent where Viktor and Fleur were already waiting. 

Fleur and Viktor were standing in one corner of the tent talking. Both Fleur and Viktor hadn’t been too friendly with them since Beth’s name got pulled out of the cup, particularly after the Rita Skeeter article.

“Um hi,” said Cedric nervously.

Viktor looked over at him and stared at him, Fleur looked affronted at him talking to her.

“Bonjour,” said Fleur coldly glaring at them both.

After a while Mr Bagman came into the tent and handed around a bag with miniature dragons in it. Beth pulled out a Hungarian Horntail with a number four written around its neck.

Cedric had to go first.

“I’ll see you on the other side Beth,” said Cedric giving her a hug, “see you on the other side little sis.”

Cedric had tears in his eyes as he let go of her and walked out of the tent.

Fleur was still staring at Beth but in a different way from before, her expression seemed to have softened in some way.

Beth waited until all the others had faced their dragons and then waited to be called into the stadium.

The dragon was huge and the whole school was watching. Beth looked over to the audience and saw that Susan was sitting towards the front of the crowd.

Beth took a close look at her dragon, it was lashing its tail and glaring at her, her eyes full of anger.

She took a deep breath, her conjunctivitis curse didn’t last very long, less than a minute, but that was long enough to be able to disappear. 

“Conjuncto!” said Beth pointing her wand at the dragon’s eyes.

The dragon’s eyes swelled shut, which seemed to make it even more angry.

If this spell didn’t work, she was going to be in trouble.

“Accio cloak!” Beth called.

Her invisibility cloak came flying out of Susan’s bag and Beth pulled it on.

She walked over carefully to the dragon’s nest as the dragon’s eyes reopened. The dragon looked around to try and find its victim. Where had the girl gone?

Beth walked over to the nest and carefully pulled out the golden egg, trying not to disturb the other eggs in the nest or disturb the dragon herself.

She’d got it, she’d got the golden egg, now all she had to do was to get out of nest without getting hurt.

She got slashed by the dragon’s tail as she left the nest, and it stung her arm and ripped her jumper.

The people in the stadium were looking around confused, where had the egg gone, was Beth alright?

She pulled off her cloak and held her egg in the air, there was a loud round of applause.

“Well that’s a turn up for the books!” called Bagman over his wand.

“Our youngest champion defeats the dragon in the shortest time, simple but very effective.”

Professor Sprout came running onto the pitch a smile a mile wide on her face followed by McGonagall.

“Well done Beth!” said Professor Sprout, “you were brilliant!”

“It wasn’t cheating using the cloak?” asked Beth.

“Cheating?” asked Sprout, “it was resourceful, you used what resources you already had and slipped right past the dragon without it ever seeing you.”

“I’m going to write home to your uncles right now,” beamed McGonagall, “they will be so proud of you.”

“Um thanks,” muttered Beth.

“Come on Miss Potter, let’s get that arm of yours looked at.”

Sprout started to lead Beth over to the First Aid Tent. Beth had only just realised quite how badly her arm was hurt, it was bleeding, and the cut was stinging like mad.

Sprout led Beth over to the tent where Pomfrey was waiting for her.

“Dragons honestly,” tutted Pomfrey looking at her arm, “goodness knows what they’ll think of next.”

“You’re lucky this wasn’t any deeper dear,” said Pomfrey as she fixed Beth’s arm.

“There you go, you’re free to go now, they’ll be giving your scores out soon, I need to check on Mr Diggory.”

“What happened to Cedric?” stammered Beth.

“He’s fine dear, he just needs a bit of fixing up,” said Pomfrey patting her on the shoulder before going to go and find Cedric.

“Beth!” exclaimed Susan coming charging into the tent.

She pulled Beth into huge hug and a deep kiss. 

“Not now Sus,” chuckled Ernie, “there are people watching.”

“Sorry Ernie,” giggled Susan.

“They’ll be giving out the scores,” beamed Justin.

Susan and Ernie both put their arms around Beth and they stood together in the entrance to the tent watching the scores come up.

She got nine from most of the judges, but Bagman gave her a ten, and Karkaroff gave her a four.

“Four!” shouted Ernie outraged.

“The cheating scumbag,” said Justin shaking his head.

Beth saw Hermione pulling Ron over to the tent.

Not now, thought Beth.

“Here we go,” muttered Ernie shaking his head.

“Ronald,” said Hermione, looking firmly at Ron who was looking sheepish.

“I’ve got something to say, I’m sorry that I thought you entered yourself, you would have been mad to enter yourself into this tournament. Beth Potter is many things, but she is not mad.”

“Thanks Ron,” blushed Beth.

“As for that over stuff I said, Slytherins might be sneaky and cunning, but I think you showed me something today. They are also resourceful, you got passed that dragon without hardly a scratch, maybe it’s good to have a bit of Slytherin in you.”

“He’s trying to say sorry,” said Hermione smirking slightly.

“I get it if you don’t want to be friends anymore, I just wanted to say sorry.”

“Same time, same place?” asked Beth.

“Not today, I think you’ll be a bit busy celebrating,” chuckled Hermione.

“See you both tomorrow then,” laughed Susan.

“Do we have to let him back in?” muttered Justin as Hermione and Ron walked away.

“Give him a chance, its only Just,” said Ernie.

“I appreciate the word play,” smirked Justin.

“Sis!” exclaimed Cedric running over to Beth and lifting her in the air.

“Put me down Ced!” she laughed.

“See you in the Common Room,” said Ernie as they left, “we’ve got a party to plan.”

“I’m so bloody proud of you, according to Viktor you’re in first place.”

“Well done,” said Viktor as Cedric put Beth back down, “invisibility, wish I’d thought of that myself.”

“Um thanks,” stammered Beth shocked that not only Viktor was talking to her, but he was being so nice.

“Cedric, Beth,” said Fleur coming over, looking more than slightly foolish, “we are sorry for misjudging you.”

“What made you see the light?” asked Cedric.

“I have a little sister too, you and Beth might not be connected by blood, but I know what it’s like to worry about your sister. I also know that you never would have entered your sister into this tournament.”

“We’re all stuck in this together,” said Viktor, “whether we like it or not.”

Viktor held out his hand for Cedric to shake.

“Cedric,” beamed Cedric, “Cedric Diggory.”

“It’s an honour to meet you.”

“Champions!” called Mr Bagman coming into the tent.

“Well done, your next task isn’t until the twenty fourth of Febuary. But you have a clue, those eggs you are holding will give you a clue about the next challenge, until then I will see you all on the twenty fourth.”

Bagman and the rest of the professors left the tent.

“Come on Beth, we’ve got some celebrating to do,” chuckled Cedric.

“Celebrating what?”

“Being alive!”

“You go ahead, I’ll just be a minute,” said Beth.

Cedric shrugged and headed out of the tent.

“Excuse me, Mr Krum?” asked Beth nervously.

“Yes?” asked Viktor.

“I’m sure you get this a lot, but Cedric’s a big fan of yours.”

“Cedrics a fan?” asked Krum somewhat surprised.

“Yeah he’s a seeker, wants to go professional after he graduates, I was wondering if he could get your autograph?” she asked looking down at her shoes nervously.

“I’ll see what I can do,” nodded Viktor, “and congratulations again.”

Beth skipped off to the Common Room she hadn’t been so happy in a month, she had defeated the dragon, and even Ron was friends with her again.

The Common Room was halfway through being decorated.

“You’re not meant to be here yet!” said Simon.

“They’re planning a surprise,” giggled Susan, “come on lets go ring Remus and Sirius.”

Beth sat down on her bed with Susan, Ginny, Hannah and Artie and Beth got her mirror out.

“Sirius!” Beth called.

“Hey Lilybeth!” beamed Sirius who was with Remus.

“Hi sweetheart,” said Remus.

“How’d it go?” asked Sirius.

“She’s in first place!” said Artie proudly.

“How in the blazes did you manage that?” asked Sirius.

“Using a certain family heirloom,” shrugged Beth.

“The invisibility cloak?” asked Remus.

“The very same,” nodded Susan.

“That was a stroke of genius,” said Sirius.

“Any clues on the next task yet?” asked Remus.

“Just this thing,” shrugged Beth pulling out the golden egg.

“Well go on Lilybeth open it.”

Beth opened the egg and a pierce shrill screaming filled the room; it wasn’t like the cruciatus screaming.

“What the hell was that?” asked Sirius as Beth closed the egg shut.

“Mermaids!” exclaimed Hannah.

“How do you know that?” asked Susan.

“My Mum used to tell me stories about them when I was little, she used to take me to visit them, at low tide in the middle of the night, they come out of the sea and sing but it sounds more like screaming.”

“But how can we understand them?”

“Simply put the egg under water, it won’t sound like screaming anymore.”

“Thanks Hannah, you’re amazing.”

“And you lot are going to be late for the party,” said Georgia putting her head around the door.

Artie and Ginny leapt of the bed and raced each other downstairs followed by the others.

“Woah!” exclaimed Beth as she came downstairs.

Last time the room had been filled with paper chains, this time it hundreds of tiny paper flowers that changed colour of their own accord. Also, instead of a cake there was a huge selection of ice cream with at least twenty different flavours and every kind of flavour imaginable.

“Ice cream!” exclaimed Beth her face lighting up.

“Where’s my surprise?” asked Cedric in a tone of mock outrage.

“Right here,” said a voice from over by the entrance.

“Nym!” exclaimed Cedric running over to her and swinging her around in the air.

“Merlin I’ve missed you,” said Cedric after giving her a long kiss.

“I’ve missed you too,” beamed Tonks.

“We’re not even breaking any of Sprouts rules,” chuckled Peter, “Tonks after all is still a Hufflepuff.”

“Once a Hufflepuff always a Hufflepuff,” said Artie proudly.


	25. Swimming lessons

“So you’re telling me that we’ve got to go swimming with mermaids?”

“I don’t know Cedric,” shrugged Beth, “we need to find out what the egg says first.”

It was Friday evening, they had competed in the first task a few days ago and they were finally going to figure out what the eggs said.

“Do you think the third task is going to have something to do with earth or wind?” wondered Cedric.

“What are you talking about?” asked Beth as she checked that her egg and swimming costume where both in her bag.

“Well the first two tasks have something to do with the elements, fire, water, maybe the third one will too?”

“Oh!! Maybe we’ve got to fly or something! That would be easy.”

“Which is exactly why they wouldn’t set it Ced, it would be too easy for you and Viktor.”

“Oh yeah,” muttered Cedric disappointed.

Cedric led them both to the prefect’s bathroom where he started to run the bath as they both got into their swimming costumes.

Cedric ran the bath which was the size of a huge swimming pool and very deep. 

Beth knelt down by the bath and looked at it nervously.

“There a problem Sis?”

“Um well,” she muttered, “I can’t swim.”

“Why have you got a swimming costume then?” chuckled Cedric.

“Sirius bought it for me, we’re going to go on holiday in Greece next summer, he was going to teach me then.”

“Well then, now’s as good a time as any to teach you, hop on in.”

They left the two golden eggs on the bathroom floor and Beth slowly lowered herself into the water.

She worried that she might sink, but then realised that her feet were just touching the ground she was in the shallow end. The water was warm, but Cedric hadn’t added any bubbles.

“Right now the important thing to remember sis, is that you have to use your arms and legs at the same time, you kick with your legs and paddle with your arms at the same time.”

“Do you trust me Sis?”

Beth bit her lip but then nodded.

“Ok alright then,” beamed Cedric, “I’m going to help you.”

“You lie on your front, don’t worry you won’t drown, you’ll just float.”

Beth lay in the water and thought she was about to sink when Cedric put his arms underneath her.

“I told you to trust me,” chuckled Cedric, “now kick and paddle at the same time.”

There was an awful lot of splashing, and there was water everywhere, but Beth could swim fairly well after half an hour.

“I’m exhausted,” sighed Beth.

“Let’s take a look at those eggs,” said Cedric.

“Oh I’ve been looking forward to this bit,” said an echoey voice from within one of the taps.

“What the?” stammered Cedric as he fetched the eggs.

“Myrtle is that you?” asked Beth shocked.

“Hello again Beth,” said Myrtle flying out of the tap.

“Um Beth, sorry for interrupting,” said Cedric, “but how do you know this ghost?”

“She helped me with the Chamber of Secrets.”

“And Beth helped me avenge my death,” beamed Myrtle.

“Fair enough, ready to find out what the mermaids want?” asked Cedric.

“Hmm,” said Beth.

Cedric opened the egg under water and the egg began to glow and sing under water.

They both took a deep breath and held their breath in before plunging under water.

“Come seek us where our voices sound,  
We cannot sing above the ground,  
And while you’re searching ponder this;  
We’ve taken what you’ll sorely miss,  
An hour long you’ll have to look,  
And to recover what we took,  
But past an hour the prospects black,  
Too late its gone, it won’t come back.”

“So the mermaids are going to take something from us, and we’ll have an hour to get it back,” muttered Cedric.

“Seems fairly straightforward,” said Beth, “apart from the part where.”

“We have to swim underwater for an hour,” said Cedric.

“Sounds like fun,” beamed Myrtle.

“It might sound like fun to you Myrtle, but it sounds like a death sentence to me,” sighed Beth.

“Well, if you do die, my old offer still stands,” shrugged Myrtle, “you can share to toilet.”

“Thanks Myrtle,” giggled Beth.

“So,” said Cedric as they dried back off, “we’ve got three months to figure out how to breath under water for a whole hour.”

The next day, Beth and Cedric were eating breakfast. It was Saturday, and Beth was all caught up on her homework. Beth, Susan, Justin and Ernie were going to start going through books about breathing under water.

“Morning,” said Viktor nodding to them slightly and sitting down opposite Cedric.

“Morning,” beamed Beth.

Cedric looked up at Viktor star struck.

“Did you two know that are mermaids at the bottom of your lake?” asked Viktor before winking slightly.

“Yeah,” stammered Cedric finding his voice, “we um deciphered the clue last night.”

“Ah, that is good,” said Viktor beaming.

“I hear that you like flying,” asked Viktor interestedly.

“Um yeah,” said Cedric nodding.

“I have something for you, it is a late birthday present.”

Viktor reached in his cloak pocket and passed Cedric a Quidditch programme from the world cup.

“I’ve already got one of these, I was at the match,” said Cedric looking at the programme, “you were amazing by the way.”

“I have a feeling you don’t have this one,” chuckled Viktor pointing to the pages with the team profiles.

It showed a picture and description of the members of both teams, but all the moving portraits were signed.

“Beth said you want to go professional; would you like to go flying today?”

“Beth Potter,” said Cedric hugging his sister, “have I ever told you how amazing you are!”

“It’s nothing Ced,” said Beth shaking her head, “have a nice time.”


	26. Give Love A Chance

November slowly turned into December. Term was drawing near an end.

Cedric was very busy studying for his NEWTs and doing prefect duties but he helped whenever he could.

Beth had spent weeks in the library with Susan, Ernie, Justin, Hermione, Ron, Theo and Tracy.

Theo and Tracy were reading at a different table from them so that the Slytherins might not think they were spending time together.

They were all trying to figure how to breath under water. And had read through what felt like a hundred books.

“It would be easier if these things had ruddy indexes!” muttered Justin as he slammed shut another book.

“What is an index?” asked Viktor. Viktor had been joining them a lot too.

“They are at the back of muggle books,” explained Beth, “they tell you what pages you’ll find things on.”

“So, if you wanted anything to do with water you’d just look up what pages it shows up on, rather than having to read the whole thing,” said Hermione.

“Ah, that is good, very clever,” said Viktor.

“Any of you lot got dates for the ball yet?” asked Ron.

“Beth and I are going together,” said Susan.

“Well that one’s obvious,” said Hermione.

“I’ve asked Parvati,” said Ron, “she said yes.”

“Wow, that’s great Ron,” said Susan.

“What about you guys?” asked Hermione.

“I haven’t found anyone I like yet,” shrugged Justin.

“I’m going to go check on Theo and Tracy,” said Beth grabbing a stack of books for them.

Beth walked over to Theo and Tracy’s table in a dark secluded corner of the library.

“Hi guys, I’ve got you some more books.”

“Looks like you don’t need them though,” muttered Beth.

Theo and Tracy were snogging over their books and parchment.

“How long exactly has this been going on?” asked Beth.

“Just today, we swear,” said Tracy.

Beth raised her eyebrows at them.

“Well ok, a few weeks,” said Theo, “I kissed Tracy after the first task, we were both so relieved that you were alright, spur of the moment kind of thing.”

“Well I’m very happy for both of you,” chuckled Beth.

“We’ll get back to studying now,” said Tracy giggling slightly.

“I don’t think we have to worry about Theo and Tracy finding dates for the ball,” said Beth as she came back to the table.

“Why?” asked Ernie.

“Because they’re going together.”

Ernie sighed and fled from the library leaving his bag behind.

“I’ll go talk to him,” said Beth as she and Susan grabbed their and Ernie’s bags.

Justin tried to get up too.

“It’s alright Just, we’ve got this.”

Susan and Beth ran back to the common room where they found Ernie staring into the flames of the fireplace.

“Is this about the ball?” asked Beth.

“Even Weasley’s got a date,” he seethed, “its getting closer by the day.”

“You do realise, you have to ask him, he hasn’t actually said no yet,” said Susan.

“What are you talking about?” asked Ernie whipping his head round.

“You already told us you were gay Ernie,” said Beth trying not to laugh.

“Oh yeah, I did didn’t I?” said Ernie chortling lightly.

“So why don’t you just get on with it ask Justin to the ball?” asked Susan.

“How did you?”

“Intuition,” said Beth tapping her nose.

“Whats up?” asked Justin joining them.

“You just ran out of the library, is something wrong.”

“Justin, I’ve got something to ask you.”

“Yeah?” shrugged Justin.

“Justin, will you go to the ball with me?” he stammered quickly.

“I’m sorry, didn’t quite catch that,” wanting to make sure he wasn’t mishearing things.

“Justin Finch Fletchley,” said Ernie slowly, “will you go to the ball with me?”

“Ernie Macmillan,” said Justin nodding slightly, “I would be greatly honoured. You’ll have to learn how to waltz though.”

“Only if you’ll teach me,” said Ernie smirking slightly at Justin.

“I think we’ll leave those two to it,” said Beth as she and Susan got up.

Ernie put his arm around Justin and they both looked into the flames together.

Neville and Hannah were sharing a table with Zach not too far away and Neville was pouring over a plant catalogue pointing out all the ones he wanted to get someday. Zach was eating sweets and throwing a ball in the air and catching it lazily.

“This ones really cool.”

“What does it do?” asked Hannah enthusiastically.

“It glows in the dark, it’s rumoured that fairies gather around it at twilight. They’re sometimes used in fairy rings.”

“You can’t use that for breathing under water can you Nev?” asked Susan hopefully.

“Fairy blossoms?” asked Neville, “no of course not.”

Susan and Beth sighed heavily and sat down at the table with them.

“If you want to breath under water you should try Gillyweed,” said Neville turning a page to a section on water plants.

“I’m sorry what?” stammered Beth.

“Gillyweed, it lets you breathe under water for an hour, you grow gills and get webbed hands and feet. Excellent for swimming and breathing under water,” beamed Neville pointing at the right plant in the catalogue.

“Neville,” said Beth shaking her head, “you may have just saved me and Cedric’s lives. I need to order two lots of gillyweed.”


	27. Yule and All The Joys It Brings

Beth was woken up by Guinevere hoping on her bed.

“Meow!” called Guinevere jumping on the bed.

“Hmm?”

“Meow!” called the cat again playing with a ribbon.

“What does she want,” grumbled Susan who was half asleep.

“She wants to remind that its Christmas,” giggled Beth, “and she wants to help open the presents.”

Susan jerked awake and her eyes flashed open.

Artie and Ginny’s eyes had popped open at the sound of the C word too.

“Give me my presents,” said Artie in a menacing tone eyeing the broomstick shaped parcel at the end of her bed.

Beth got out of bed to get out her mirror.

“Meow!” pleaded Guinevere leaping on the presents.

“Wait a second Gwen, you have to wait for Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus.”

“Sirius!” Beth called into the mirror as she pulled her dressing gown on.

“A very merry Chrimbo kiddo,” beamed Sirius.

Sirius and Remus were wearing matching Christmas jumpers from Mrs Weasley, one had a silver wolf on a blue jumper, and the other had a gold star on a blue jumper.

“Merry Christmas,” beamed Beth grinning madly.

“You looking forward to tonight Cariad?”

“Of course, my first ball,” beamed Beth.

“Every princess needs a first ball,” said Remus.

“Are you going to open those presents Lilybeth?” asked Sirius.  
“Sure,” beamed Beth.

Hannah had given her a book on mermaids, Neville had given her two portions of gillyweed that she had asked for, Ernie had sent her some ice cream flavoured sweets and Justin had gotten her some fun notebooks as even after all these years, Beth kept immaculate notes.

Ginny and Artie had bought Beth a pair of silvery heels to wear at the ball that night.

“Should help you catch up with Susie for a night,” chuckled Artie.

Fred, George, Nick and Nigel had sent her, Ginny and Artie sample boxes with all their new products.

“Be careful with anything in there,” said Beth as Hannah looked at one of the sweets.

Beth couldn’t help but laugh as she looked at their new company name.

“What have they done this time?” asked Sirius raising his eyebrows.

“They’re renamed the company after Nick and Nigel joined.”

“What have they done?” asked Remus.

“They are now the Manic Marauders,” chortled Susan looking at the piece of paper.

“You’re their inspiration,” laughed Beth.

“You’re joking!” beamed Sirius.

“I think they’re been inspired by you in more ways than one,” said Beth, showing a moving map of Hogwarts.

“It’s not as detailed, but first years have been complaining about not having maps of the castle for goodness knows how long.”

“No secret passages, it doesn’t show people, it just shows the castle.”

Susan passed Beth what seemed to be instructions on the map.

“According to this you can zoom in and out,” said Beth impressed. 

“And they’re going to sell those?” asked Sirius, “they’ll make a ruddy fortune!”

Also in the box were extendable ears and a variety of trick sweets. There was also a prototype for a new type of wit sharpening potion that Nick and Nigel had been working on, and several tiny balls that flew around the room, they had experimenting with levitation charms for their quidditch sets.

Beth’s model Hungarian Horntail was chasing the flying balls around the room.

The Weasleys had sent a package of presents, which included Mrs Weasley soft yellow jumper, and some new History books from Percy.

The Diggory’s had sent a large squishy package.

“It feels like another quilt, goodness knows why, I’ve got enough of those.”

She opened the parcel and found a rag quilt, but on every single square was a still photograph. Cedric had clearly gone through all her photos and sent several dozen to his mother for the quilt. There were photos of Beth with Remus and Sirius, Beth with her parents, Beth with her friends at school, there was even one picture of Cedric reading to Beth.

Susan had given Beth her usual History notes, and a rose gold heart shaped necklace with flowers intwined.

“It’s beautiful,” said Beth giving Susan a hug.

All that was left now was presents from Remus and Sirius

“I want you to open the big one and the one with the envelope last” said Sirius.

“Ok,” shrugged Beth.

There was a custom-made calendar with one of her drawings for each month. There was a diary which could lock so she could write down all her secrets. There was several books as usual including A Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations. She also had some new Arithmancy books and a book of Goblin Rebellions she had been wanting.

“Can we open the big box now?” asked Ginny

“We want to know what’s in there,” said Artie.

All the other girls had finished opening all their presents, and Guinevere was rolling around luxuriously in all the wrapping paper and tissue paper and ribbons.

“Go ahead,” said Remus.

Beth carefully lifted the lid of the white cardboard box and moved the tissue paper aside.

There was a soft rose gold silk coloured dress in the box which fell to well below the knee. There was a mass of toile petticoats underneath the dress.

“Wow,” said Susan as she looked at the dress.

“But iv’e already got a dress for the ball,” said Beth confused.

“It’s not for the ball Cariad,” said Remus looking at Sirius.

“Many years ago, Remus and I exchanged promise rings that one day we’d get married, now we’re back together we don’t want to wait much longer.”

“We’re getting married this Summer, tenth of July,” said Remus, “we want you to be our bridesmaid. We’re not having best men or anything, we just want you.”

“It’s beautiful,” beamed Beth stroking the dress, “it’s perfect.”

“Can we come to the wedding?” asked Ginny excitedly.

“Of course, you can, you can all come,” chuckled Sirius.

“Wow, I love weddings,” said Hannah, “I’ve never been to one, but I love the idea of them.”

“So what’s in the envelope?” asked Susan.

“Open the parcel first, it’s a clue,” said Remus.

Beth opened the parcel and found two books illustrated copies of the Odyssey and the Iliad.

“This the same Odysseus we learnt about in first year?” asked Ginny looking at the Odyssey.

“You bet,” nodded Sirius.

Beth opened the envelope and found a flight ticket to Athens Greece for the eleventh of July.

“This is for day after your wedding, what about your honeymoon?” said Beth confused.

“We’re not having a honeymoon, we’re having a family holiday in Greece, Athens, Delphi, might even pop into Ithaca.”

“Like Odysseus?” asked Beth.

“You bet,” said Sirius, “sun, sea and ancient magical islands.”

“It sounds amazing, I can’t wait until July now,” beamed Beth.

“Yeah well I can’t wait until June twenty fourth,” said Remus, “you’ll be safe after that, the tournament ends then.”

“I know what you mean,” sighed Beth.

There was a frantic knocking on the door.

Cedric poked his head around.

“You lot decent?”

“Do those trick staircases even exist in our dorm?” asked Artie.

“Clearly not,” said Susan.

“Is that Cedric I hear?” asked Sirius beaming wildly.

“Sirius!” said Cedric charging into the room carrying a half unwrapped brand shiny new Firebolt.

“You are fantastic!” said Cedric taking the mirror from Beth, “if you were here right now, I would kiss you!”

“Thank Merlin I’m not then, you’re very welcome Cedric.”

“You gave Cedric a Firebolt!” asked Artie her own new Nimbus 2003 looking a lot less impressive now.

“You’ve always looked after my little Lilybeth, and if you want to go professional you need a good start.”

“Thank you, thank you a thousand times!”

“Just make sure our little girl doesn’t die until June and you’ll have deserved it.”

“Don’t worry, thanks to Neville we’re all sorted for the next task,” said Beth showing the gillyweed.

Christmas was much busier that usual that year. Usually most people went home for Christmas but hardly anyone had gone home because of the Yule Ball that evening.

“Joyeux Noelle,” said Fleur delivering Cedric and Beth Christmas cards and madeleines, “my mother sent me these for my friends.”

“Merci Fleur,” said Beth as they kissed each other’s cheeks.

“See you tonight Fleur,” said Cedric.

There was the usual Christmas feast but not everyone was really that interested. But after lunch there was the biggest schoolwide snowball fight Beth had ever seen.

The Gryffindors and Slytherins had called a truce for the afternoon and were working together to bring down the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws.

The Ravenclaws had used their wands to create a massive ice barricade as a defence against the other two houses, and the fight went on for hours. Eventually they had to head inside to start getting ready for the ball.

Beth went upstairs with the other girls to take a quick shower before pulling on her silvery blue ball gown which now she had it on, reminded her of Cinderellas dress. She really did feel like a princess in that dress.

Hannah was a miracle worker with hair, Susan and Beth both had waist length dark red hair, which Hannah carefully styled.

They were wearing their usual hair styles, Beth her braid crown, and Susan her crown, but Hannah had incorporated sparkling gemstone hairpins that matched their ball gowns into their hair.

Susan’s dress was a dark green which brought out the colour of her eyes.

“I think we’re already,” said Artie as she put on her lip gloss.

The five girls headed down the stairs were the four boys were waiting for them.

“Why is it,” sighed Zach, “that we have the five most beautiful girls in the school in our house, but four of them are gay and the other ones my best friends girlfriend?”

“It’s called fate Smith,” smirked Artie.

“Maybe if you were a bit nicer to girls all the time not just when there’s a ball coming up, you’d actually have a date tonight.”

“Fat chance,” coughed Ernie.

“Can you guys all stand together please?” asked Simon, “I need to get you all in the picture.”

Simon was holding up a camera.

“Is this for the fan club?” asked Susan.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get a copy too.”

“Well alright then,” sighed Susan.

They all grouped together so they could fit into the picture.

“You ready guys?” asked Cedric who was retying his bow tie yet again.

“We’re ready but are you?” smirked Zach.

“What is something wrong?” asked Cedric trying to check his hair.

“You look perfect Cedric, and Tonks is going to love you,” said Beth, “now come on.”

They all headed up to the entrance hall where there was couples waiting to be let into the great hall.

Cedric looked around frantically for Tonks.

“Ced!” called Tonks walking over.

She looked so different from usual, she didn’t have her usual brightly coloured hair. Tonks had dark brown hair which fell to just below her shoulders. Tonks dress was floor length and a pale gold embroidered with flowers.

“Nym,” breathed Cedric, “you look beautiful, you are beautiful.”

“And you’re only just realising this?” asked Tonks.

“You are more beautiful every time I see you,” said Cedric stroking her cheek.

“You look beautiful Beth,” said Tonks, “and so this must be Susan?”

“Hi,” said Susan beaming.

“Bonjour,” beamed Fleur walking over to the over two champions with her partner Roger Davies.

“Hello Fleur,” said Beth as and Susan hugged her.

“And you must be the beautiful Tonks that I have heard about?”

“Strange that you’ve heard about me, but I haven’t heard about you,” said Tonks suspiciously.

Fleur looked terrified.

“Je suis desole, I did not mean anything by it!”

“I’m joking Fleur,” chortled Tonks, “of course Ced told me about you, Viktor too.”

“Of course, he told you about Viktor,” chuckled Beth, “he’s Cedric’s idol.”

The last champion walked over with his partner. Viktor was escorting an elegant young girl in beautiful blue silk dress robes, she looked like a Roman goddess.

“Hermione!” exclaimed Beth.

“You’re beautiful!” said Susan.

“You two look stunning, then again you always do.”

“Why didn’t you tell us you were going with Viktor?” asked Beth.

“Because,” said Hermione laughter in her eyes, “I wanted to see Ron’s face when he saw me with Viktor tonight, I wanted to surprise him.”

“You’re going to surprise him alright,” giggled Susan.

Soon the champions had to go into the hall, Beth and Susan went first, followed by Fleur and Roger, then Cedric and Tonks and finally Viktor and Hermione.

“Nymphadora!” exclaimed Professor Dumbledore as Tonks sat down with Cedric, “what a pleasure to see you my dear.”

“Hello Professor,” said Tonks beaming.

Beth was surprised that someone had just called Tonks her full given name without her wanting to snap their heads off.

Beth noticed that Professor McGonagall was staring at her with a strange expression.

“Is there something wrong Professor?”

“No dear there’s nothing wrong,” said McGonagall slowly.

“I just never realised until tonight quite how much you look your mother.”

After dinner, there was the dancing.

Beth and Susan walked onto the dance floor with the other champions, and Susan led as she was taller.

Beth had never been so happy in her life, she just felt so safe in Susan’s arms, being held close. The music the dancing, she wished it would never end.

The music want as modern as the muggle music that Beth usually listened to and preferred. All that mattered tonight, was dancing with Susan. They danced without stopping until the ball ended and they had to go back to the common room. 

Beth’s feet ached as she pulled off her high heels.

“Did you have a good time Beth?” asked Susan as they both laid on top of Susan’s bed still in their ball dresses, their shoes left on the floor.

“The best night of my life,” said Beth beaming.

“It doesn’t have to be over you know,” said Susan stroking Beth’s cheek.

Beth quickly shut the curtains on Susan’s bed with her wand before Susan pulled Beth on top of her as they kissed frantically. It was the perfect end, to the perfect day.


	28. Mysterious Fathoms Below

Beth was in the Common Room the night before the second task, trying to distract herself by updating her Charms notes. Susan was sitting next to her at the table flicking through Anne’s illustrated copy of Little Women.

“You know I think Artie’s Joe, and you’re Beth of course,” muttered Susan.

“Now the question is which one of us is Meg and which one Amy?” pondered Susan.

“I’d say you’re probably more sensible and down to earth than Hannah, and whilst Amy can sometimes be a bit immature, she is a romantic at heart. Hannah’s a romantic alright, so if I had to choose, you’d be Meg.”

Susan beamed at Beth slightly before going back to the book. At this point Emily walked over.

“Hi Beth!” Emily called enthusiastically.

“Hello Emily,” muttered Beth not even looking up from her notes.

“I’ve got a message from Professor Sprout; she wants to see you Susan.”

“I’d best go see what she wants,” muttered Susan shrugging as she got up.

“See you in a bit Beth,” she said giving Beth a quick kiss on the forehead before leaving.

Beth kept on writing out her notes, trying to distract herself from the fact that tomorrow morning her and Cedric would be swimming with the mermaids.

It was she finished updating the last of her notes, that Beth realised that Susan still wasn’t back.

“Come on Sis,” said Cedric yawning slightly as he walked over, “we’re going swimming in ten hours.”

Beth checked her watch and saw that it was eleven o’clock. Where was Susan? She’d been gone for over two hours.

“Where’s Susie?”

“I don’t know Beth,” shrugged Cedric as he packed away Beth’s books.

“All I do know, is that you need some sleep,” Cedric passed her her bag and ushered her towards the staircase to the dorms.

“I’ll meet you at breakfast tomorrow ok?”

“Alright,” sighed Beth trudging up the stairs to her dorm.

Beth got into her pyjamas and unpinned her plaits from on top of her head, and tied them at the bottom so they wouldn’t come undone.

“You ok Beth?” asked Hannah.

Hannah was lying on top of her bed reading the tales of Beadle the Bard.

“Yeah I think so,” shrugged Beth.

“Do you guys believe any of these stories?” asked Hannah.

“Do we believe in fairy tales?” choked Artie trying not to laugh as she and Ginny read an article on the Holyhead Harpies over on Ginny’s bed.

“And just what is so ridiculous about that?” asked Beth.

“I don’t know they just seem unbelievable,” shrugged Ginny.

“Until three and a half years ago, I didn’t know about Hogwarts, or magic or any of that,” said Beth simply, “and tomorrow morning I’m about to go swimming with mermaids.”

Beth went over to her trunk and pulled out a very battered and well-read paperback book on Arthurian legend.

“Let’s put it this way Hannah, three and half years ago, I used to think that these stories were myths, but they gave a little girl living in a cupboard under the stairs something to dream about and hope for. It turns out, they weren’t myths, it was all true.”

Beth passed Hannah the book and Hannah’s face lit up.

“Not all fairy tales are about Babbity Rabbity and the Cackling Stump, theres quite a few dashing knights in this book. None of them of course are as handsome kind, or true as your own Neville however.”

“You’re teasing me surely?” giggled Hannah.

“I never joke about books,” said Beth.

“Have any of you guys seen Susie?” she asked.

“Nope,” shrugged Artie as she and Ginny turned the page.

Beth was still worried about where the hell Susan was, but she also knew that half past nine tomorrow morning was getting closer by the second.

She snuggled under the covers and slowly dropped off to sleep.

She was in the Common Room with Susan, but there was something different about her. Beth looked up at Susan and saw that her eyes were different from usual. They were bright red.

“Tom?” whispered Beth.

“Took you long enough,” chuckled Tom softly transforming back into the young Tom Riddle.

“Where’s Susan?”

“Somewhere you’ll never find her, Susan’s long gone!”

Beth woke up again and looked at the next bed over where Susan should have been, but it was empty.

Ginny and Artie were asleep in each other’s arms. Hannah was still reading and was now halfway through the book.

“Hannah?” asked Beth.

“You had a nightmare?”

“Maybe,” muttered Beth blushing slightly.

“Susan had disappeared, I need to find her,” said Beth trying to get out of bed.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” assured Hannah climbing over to Beth’s bed.

“I know that Susan usually stays with you if you have a nightmare, but tonight, Sus is missing so here am I. Sorry if I’m a poor substitute, but you’ve got six hours until the task, you need you sleep.”

“Thanks Hannah,” said Beth somewhat drowsily as she dropped back off to sleep.

When Beth woke up the next morning, Hannah was just finishing reading the book. She had been up reading all night and now it was seven o’clock in the morning.

“I take it you liked the book?” chuckled Beth drowsily as she woke up.

“It was amazing!” breathed Hannah, “the daring knights, the beautiful princesses.”

“Is Susie still not back?” asked Beth confused.

“No,” shrugged Hannah as she read.

“We’ve taken what you’ll sorely miss,” muttered Beth in dawning comprehension.

“That gillyweed of Neville’s had better work!” yelled Beth clenching her face with her hands.

“What’s going on?” asked Ginny drowsily.

“Why are you shouting?” agreed Artie.

“They’ve kidnapped Susan!” screamed Hannah hysterically.

“Whats going on in here?” asked Georgia poking her head around the door.

“We heard screaming; are you lot alright?”

“They’ve kidnapped Susan!” said Beth as she got out her swimming costume.

“What are you talking about?” asked Georgia shaking her head.

“The second task,” explained Artie a look of horror on her face, “Beth has to find something she’ll sorely miss at the bottom of the Great Lake, Susan’s been missing since yesterday evening.”

“Wait, you lot think they’ve tied Susan up at the bottom of the lake?” asked Georgia.

“Because that’s barbaric, they wouldn’t do that!”

“I would have agreed with you three months ago,” said Ginny, “before they made Beth face a fully-grown dragon.”

“Even if they have got Susan at the bottom of that lake,” said Georgia trying to keep calm putting her hands-on Beth’s shoulders, “it’s only seven thirty, the tasks not for two hours. Just calm down, you and Cedric are going to sort this out.”

“Why don’t we get up and then go get some breakfast,” suggested Artie.

“Hmm,” muttered Beth.

Beth got out her swimming costume and pulled it on and put a pair of jeans and a jumper over the top.

“Seems like it’s my turn to be the hero Hannah,” said Beth grabbing her and Cedric’s gillyweed and putting them in her jeans pocket with her wand.

“I’ve got a fair damsel to rescue.”

Hannah looked at the book she’d been reading all night and smiled.

The four girls headed down to breakfast, but Beth didn’t eat much. She pushed her food around the plate.

“Hey kiddo,” said Cedric sitting down next to her.

“Hi Ced,” muttered Beth.

“You got the magic gillyweed?”

“Yeah,” said Beth.

“Why the long face Sis?”

“Susan’s at the bottom of the great lake is why,” said Artie.

“Ah now that’s a problem,” said Cedric, “but one we can go fix, its quarter past nine.”

As Cedric said this, Fleur and Viktor had come to the table.

“Have you seen Hermyown?” asked Viktor as they headed out of the hall.

“No, but’s Susan’s missing too,” sighed Beth.

“You don’t think?” gasped Fleur.

“I think we’ve got some damsels to save,” beamed Cedric.

They walked down to the lake and Beth took off her jeans and jumper. She was freezing, and somehow the water in the Great Lake seemed to look even colder.

She got her wand out of her jeans pocket and passed Cedric the gillyweed.

“Neville said this will only last an hour,” said Beth.

“So if we don’t want to get stuck down there, we need to find our things and get out of there.”

Mr Bagman voice started talking over the magically amplified wand again.

“Welcome to the second task, our champions have all had something very precious taken from them and hidden at the bottom of the lake, they have one hour to find them. Good luck!”

“You ready?” asked Cedric looking at Beth.

“Ready!” said Beth as they put hteir gillyweed in their mouths.

It was chewy and very slimy, Beth didn’t know if the plant was going to work or not, but she had to get into the water to find Susan.

Susan and Cedric both dived into the water after the other two.

Beth found it very strange to breathe, but she then realised that both her and Cedric had gills on their faces.

“Come on!” mouthed Cedric, once they had realised that the gillyweed had intend worked.

They swam deeper into the water towards the bottom, and the water began to get more murky.

Beth could see strange creatures moving in the water.

“Lumos!” she called, holding her wand out, only bubbles came out but her wand lit up.

There was creatures swimming below them. One of the grindylows gripped onto Beth’s ankle and tried to pull her further into the depths of the water, trying to lure her to a watery death.

Cedric managed to break the grindylow’s fragile grip on Beth’s ankle.

And they swam away from them grindylows as fast as they could.

Then it was quiet for a while, but they kept on swimming. As they swam the occasional hut began to appear.

Beth was fairly sure she saw a tiny pair of sea green eyes gazing at her out of the window of one of the huts. 

They must have been heading in the right direction, because the further they swam, the more huts and merpeople seemed to arrive.

There was very shy little girl mermaid who was hiding behind her mother but poked her head out curiously at Beth.

Cedric and Beth kept on swimming and eventually reached what looked like might be the town square. There were four bodies tied to a life-sized statue of a merman.

“Susan!” called Beth but all that came out was bubbles.

“Nym,” mouthed Cedric.

One of the other bodies was Hermione, and the last was looked like a miniature version of Fleur, but she only looked about eight.

“Come on,” mouthed Cedric.

They picked up some rocks from the bottom of the lake and started to hack at the ropes. But it didn’t work.

Cedric pointed his wands at the ropes tying Tonks and they came undone instantly, he then released Susan.

Beth and Cedric looked at each other as they clung onto Susan and Tonks. They couldn’t just leave the others here, Hermione was their friend, and that little girl didn’t look more than eight years old, she was so tiny.

Cedric looked between Hermione and the little girl and decided to free Fleur’s sister first, she was just so small.

“No!” said the merman threatening Cedric with his pitchfork, “you can only take one!”

“Go!” mouthed Cedric pointing to Susan indicating the Beth should leave Cedric behind.

Beth shook her head, they were doing this together, she wasn’t going to leave him behind.

At that moment, a half man half shark came swimming into view and grabbed Hermione like a ragdoll in fins and began to swim away.

The shark had distracted the merman with the pitchfork for a fraction of a second.

Cedric grabbed Tonks under one arm and Fleurs sister under the other and began to kick away.

Beth followed him with Susan. Once they had gotten further away from the mermaids, they each took one of Fleur’s sisters hands so that Beth could help Cedric.

The journey back to the top of the lake took much longer than the way down. The bodies were a dead weight.

Beth’s gills and webbed feet were starting to go away too, she didn’t have much breathe left.

Beth gave one last huge kick and suddenly they were at the surface of the lake again.

Susan took a deep breath, she was soaking wet, but she had come back to.

“Beth!” exclaimed Susan giving her a kiss, “you did it!”

“Well done Ced,” chuckled Tonks.

“Ou est Fleur?” asked the little girl with the long blonde hair.

“Who’s the kid?” asked Tonks.

“I think it’s Fleur’s sister,” said Cedric helping the little girl swim back to shore, “we couldn’t just leave her down there.”

“Of course you couldn’t,” smirked Tonks.

They swam over to the shore of the lake where a frantic Fleur was being held back some of the other Beauxbaton’s girls.

“Gabrielle!” she was screaming running over to her.

Cedric helped Gabrielle out of the water, and Fleur held her little sister close.

“You saved her!” exclaimed Fleur hugging Cedric and Beth.

“Even though she was not yours to save, thank you a thousand times.”

“That’s alright Fleur,” chuckled Cedric as he passed a shivering Beth and Susan towels.

“I’m just glad that we all got out alive,” said Beth shaking slightly as Pomfrey wrapped her in a warm dressing gown.

“They’re giving out the points!” said Hermione.

“Mr Viktor Krum came back first, but one minute outside the time limit, we award him forty two points.”  
“Miss Fleur Delacour, demonstrated an excellent use of the bubble head charm but was attacked by grindylows and never reached her hostage. We award her, thirty points.”

“I deserve zero!” yelled Fleur shaking her head.

“Mr Cedric Diggory, and Miss Elizabeth Potter came back last only one minute behind Mr Krum, but also brought back Miss Delacour’s hostage. Also according to the mermaids, if Mr Diggory and Miss Potter had not tried to save all the hostages, they would have returned much earlier than Mr Krum.”

“We award them both forty seven points.”

“Beth!” exclaimed Cedric with his mouth agape, “you’re in first place, you could win this whole ruddy thing!”

“I don’t care about winning Ced,” said Beth as Susan put his arm around her, “I never have done, I just want to survive.”

“Who knows,” chuckled Cedric, “maybe you can do both?”


	29. What happened to Barty

Beth was out by the lake with Susan, Ernie and Justin. It was late May and the weather was starting to become warmer.

It was early evening, and they didn’t have any homework. Hermione had gone for a walk in the grounds with Viktor, Ron had gone flying with Seamus and Dean, and Tracy and Theo were using the Room of Requirement to get some well needed alone time, away from the prying eyes of the other Slytherins.

“Just to think,” sighed Beth as Justin and Ernie skimmed rocks across the lake.

“In four weeks from tonight, this will all be over.”

“And in another two and half weeks from that, you get to wear that gorgeous dress and fly off to Greece for a fortnight afterwards,” said Susan as she looked at the wildflowers.

“You looking forward to your first ever family holiday?” asked Ernie.

“More than anything, Remus says we’re going to go to Delphi, there used to be a famous oracle there.”

“I thought you didn’t believe in divination?” asked Justin.

“Just because I don’t take doesn’t mean I don’t believe in it,” shrugged Beth.

“Beth!” called Hermione running over with Viktor.

“You’re going to be late!”

“Late for what?” asked Beth as she helped Susan make a crown of wildflowers.

“You’re meant to be meeting with Mr Bagman and the reast of the champions,” Hermione reminded her.

“Oh I completely forgot!” exclaimed Beth pulling herself up.

Hermione and Beth switched places and Hermione helped Susan with the flower crown.

“I can’t wait for all this to be over,” muttered Beth as she and Viktor walked down to the pitch.

“Why do you want it to be over?” asked Viktor, “you’re in first place!”

“Because, I never wanted to be in this in the first place, I just want to get through the last task and live to see another year.”

“Fair enough,” mumbled Viktor.

As they got towards the Quidditch pitch they heard someone shouting.

“What the hell have they done with the pitch!” yelled Cedric.

“Oh, Merlin this can’t be good!” sighed Beth.

Beth could see why Cedric was upset; they seem to be growing dozens upon dozens of hedges.

“Don’t worry Mr Diggory, we’ll return the pitch to normal after the task,” chuckled Mr Bagman.

“Can any of you think what this might be?”

“Maze,” grunted Viktor.

“That is correct Mr Krum, your last task is to find the centre of the maze. There will be various obstacles within the maze that you will have to get past. Whoever reaches the centre of the maze first and finds the cup first, wins the tournament. The final task will be in four weeks, good luck!”

Mr Bagman left the stadium, Fleur headed back to the Beauxbatons carriage.

“They have got to be kidding, the only thing standing between us and eternal glory is a maze?”

“A maze probably infested with hundreds of dark and dangerous creatures,” added Beth.

“You have a point,” nodded Viktor.

“Beth, may I have a word with you?”

“Of course,” beamed Beth, “I’ll see you in a bit Ced!”

Beth and Viktor started to walk towards the edge of the forbidden forest.

“Is something up Viktor?”

“It is Hermione,” said Viktor, who after a few months of dating Hermione had started to pronounce her name properly.

“She is your friend yes?”

“Yeah,” shrugged Beth, “me and Hermione are friends.”

“I was thinking,” struggled Viktor who couldn’t seem to find the right words, “I would like to invite Hermione to Bulgaria this Summer, do you think she might say yes?”

“I have a feeling she might,” beamed Beth, “she thinks a lot of you.”

“Ah, this is good,” nodded Viktor.

Beth and Viktor were about to start heading back up to the castle when Beth heard something moving behind them in the trees.

She put her hand out to stop Viktor from going any further and pulled out her wand.

“What is wrong?” asked Viktor.

A tall man came staggering out from behind an oak tree. His clothes were ripped, and covered in blood, he was unshaven and looked like he was seconds away from keeling over.

It was a very degradled form of Mr Crouch.

“Isnt he a judge?” asked Viktor as Crouch started to talk to a tree, “with your ministry?”

“He is yeah,” muttered Beth.

“and when you’ve done that, send an owl to Dumbledore confirming the number of Durmstrang students.”

“Mr Crouch?” asked Beth cafefully.

“And Madame Maxime might want to bring some more too, do that for me will you? Will you?”

“Mr Crouch?” asked Beth, “is there something wrong sir?”

“Beth what is wrong with him?”

“I don’t know, Viktor, you go find someone, I’ll stay here with Mr Crouch.”

“Dumbledore!” gasped Mr Crouch gripping onto Beth’s robes, “I need to see Dumbledore!”

“Alright,” stammered Beth, “if you let go of me, I’ll go find Dumbledore.”

“I’ve done stupid thing!” he breathed. “Must tell Dumbledore!”

“Mr Crouch,” begged Beth, “if you just let go of me, I’ll take to Dumbledore.”

“Who are you?” asked Crouch as if seeing Beth for the first time.

“I’m Beth, Beth Potter.”

“Great danger,” gasped Crouch, “you are in great danger! Must see Dumbledore!”

Mr Crouch let go of her and seemed to return to normal. 

“Viktor, you stay here, I’m going to go find Mr Crouch.”

“He is mad,” muttered Viktor.

“I escaped… must warn… see Dumbledore” he struggled, “my fault… Bertha… dead… my fauly… tell Dumbledore…. Elizabeth Potter…. The dark lord!”

“I won’t be long,” said Beth, “I promise.”

Beth ran as fast as she could to Professor Dumbledore’s office. By the time she got there she was out of breath.

“Sherbet lemon,” she gasped breathlessly.

The gargoyle however didn’t move.

“Um, fizzing wizzbees, mint imperials, mint humbugs.”

At the mention of mint humbugs, the gargoyle began to move.

Beth started to run up the stairs and nearly crashed into Professor Snape.

“What are you doing here Potter?” asked Snape confused.

“I need to see Professor Dumbledore, Mr Crouch from the ministry, he appeared in the grounds.”

“The headmaster is busy, perhaps come back another time?”

“I think Mr Crouch is mad sir!” stammered Beth.

The stone wall to Dumbledore’s office suddenly slid open.

“Is there a problem?” asked Professor Dumbledore.

“It’s Mr Crouch sir, he isn’t acting normally, he’s in the forest. He wants to talk to you.”

“Lead the way,” said Dumbledore simply.

Beth could not believe that Professor Dumbledore had believed such a strange tale.

“What did Mr Crouch say to you?”

“He wants to warn you about something, he was talking about the tournament and how everything was his fault he was talking about Bertha Jorkins and the dark lord.”

“Really?” asked Dumbledore walking faster as they walked out into the dark grounds.

“He’s not acting normal, he’s isn’t making sense, I left him with Viktor Krum.”

“You left him with Mr Krum?” asked Dumbledore taking yet longer strides, Beth had to start running to keep up with him.

“Does anyone else know that Mr Crouch is in the grounds?”

“I don’t think so no sir,” said Beth running.

“Where did you leave them?” asked Dumbledore as they passed the Beauxbatons carriage.

“Just over here,” said Beth lighting up her wand.

“Viktor!” Beth shouted no answer.

Beth and Dumbledore lit up their wands and searched around. 

Suddenly Beth’s wand beam found an unconscious body.

“Viktor!” she screamed running over and knelling down next to him.

“Viktor! What happened to you?” said Beth shaking his body.

“Don’t worry Miss Potter, he’s not dead, just unconscious.”

Dumbledore knelt down next to her.

“Renervarte,” said Dumbledore pointing his wand at Viktor.

Viktor opened his eyes and looked around dazedly.

“He attacked me!” Viktor muttered sitting up suddenly.

“Mr Crouch attacked you?” asked Dumbledore, “but where is he now?”

“Beth, could you go fetch Professor Moody.”

“No need Dumbledore,” grunted Moody as he came clunking into view, “I’m already here, sorry I couldn’t get here any faster.”

“How did you know to come here?” asked Beth.

“Snape,” grunted Moody casually, “mentioned something about Crouch.”

“He’s disappeared, probably gone back into the forest, if you could find him Alastair.”

“Already on it,” said Moody limping back off into the forest.

“Miss Potter,” said Dumbledore, “I need to walk Mr Krum back to his ship, can you find your way back to your dorm?”

“Yes sir,” stammered Beth, all too keen to get back to the Common Room where Susan and the others were waiting.

She half ran back to the Common Room, she went in the door and found a confused Cedric waiting for her.

“Beth!” exclaimed Cedric pulling her in for a hug.

“I didn’t know where you were, you were gone for hours.”

“I’m fine,” muttered Beth, “I just need to talk to Sirius and Remus.”

“You sure?”

Beth nodded.

“We’ll start strategizing in the morning alright?”

Beth went up to her dorm, where the other girls were waiting for her.

“So what’s the last task?” asked Ginny bouncing with excitement.

“A maze,” said Beth.

“How utterly boring,” sighed Artie.

“Boring to watch we mean,” said Ginny.

“I need to talk to Sirius and Remus,” said Beth.

“Cool,” said Artie, “can we join?”

“Um not this time, it’s private.”

“Oh,” said Ginny a bit disappointed.

“Never mind,” shrugged Artie.

Beth shut the curtains on her four poster bed.

She poked her head out the curtains.

“Well come on Susie,” said Beth beckoning.

Susan beamed and jumped onto Beth’s bed and reclosed the curtains.

“Muffliato!” cast Beth sound proofing her bed.

“Sirius!” called Beth.

“Hey kiddo,” said Sirius, “it’s a bit past your bed time isn’t it? It’s nearly eleven o’clock. Shouldn’t you young ladies be asleep by now?”

“Something important happened, just now, really weird, I need to talk about it.”

“Remus!” called Sirius, “Beth’s got something important to talk about!”

“Hi Cairad!” called Remus.

Remus was already in his pyjamas as it was quite late.

“Whats up?”

“Weren’t you meant to be finding out about the last task tonight?” asked Sirius

“I did,” said Beth, “it’s a maze.”

“Well we can deal with that,” said Sirius.

“So whats the problem?” asked Remus.

“It’s what happened after that,” said Beth pulling at one of her plaits.

“Viktor and I went for a walk in the grounds, he was asking me something about Hermione.”

“There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with that,” shrugged Susan.

“There wasn’t,” gulped Beth, “until Mr Crouch came running out of the forbidden forest.”

“Mr Crouch?” asked Susan, “you don’t mean Barty Crouch do you?”

“How do you know him?” asked Beth.

“Dad and Aunty Amelia go on about her all the time. He’s really high up in the Ministry. But apparently he’s been acting strange for months. According to Dad he hasn’t been in to work since November.”

“Crouch hasn’t been going into work?” asked Remus confused.

“That’s not like the Crouch I knew,” muttered Sirius quietly, “missing work.”

“That’s what Dad said, he hadn’t known Crouch to ever miss a day in the office, but he’s just been sending instructions by owl for the last six months.”

“I think I might know why,” said Beth looking up at the mirror, “he’s gone mad.”

“So Bartys finally gone batty,” said Sirius smirking slightly.

“You don’t seem to like Mr Crouch very much, Uncle Sirius.”

“I have my reasons,” muttered Sirius shiftily.

Beth and Susan looked at each other perplexed.

“That man is the reason why I spent eleven and half years of my life rotting away in Azkaban,” grimaced Sirius.

“Didn’t Peter betray you?” asked Susan.

“Yes,” said Remus, “but Crouch is the man who sent people to Azkaban without giving them trials.”

“No trials?” stammered Susan, “but thats just wrong, it’s a mistrial of justice!”

“You don’t know what it was like Susan,” said Remus, “there were deatheaters left, right and centre, Voldemort had fallen but there were still so many.”

“But I’ve read about deatheater trials,” said Susan, “Aunty Amelia and Dad told me about them, they were there!”

“Not everyone got trials, only the worst cases or the ones where there wasn’t enough evidence like Bagman.”

“Bagman!” choked Susan and Beth.

“Ludo Bagman was once thought to be a deatheater,” nodded Remus, “they were wrong of course, Ludo’s an idiot not a deatheater.”

“Sirius never got a trial because there was so much evidence,” explained Remus, “dozens of eyewitnesses.”

“Several people did get trials, Severus Snape and Igor Karkaroff for example.”

“Some people like Malfoy bribed their way out of the whole thing entirely,” said Sirius.

“Antonin Dolohov, Travers and three others got sent to Azkaban for the Prewett and McKinnon murders,” said Remus.

“Who were they?” asked Beth.

“Fabian and Gideon Prewett, they were Molly Weasley’s older twin brothers, and Fred and Georges predecessors in every way,” said Sirius.

“Marlene McKinnon,” said Remus, “was your mums best friend, she was in the order with us when we left school.”

“Some of them didn’t live to see their trials,” said Sirius, “such as Evan Rosier and his brothers Edward and Eric.”

Susan flinched slightly.

“What did they do?”

“They’re the ones who tracked and down and killed over half my family,” muttered Susan pulling at her plait.

“Oh,” said Beth somewhat shocked.

“ Richard and Emily Bones had three children, Edgar Bones was the middle child in the Bones family, Amelia was the eldest, Richard was the youngest,” explained Remus.

“The Bones family are still big in the ministry now,” continued Sirius, “but they used to be even bigger. Susan’s grandparents and her uncle used to be in the Ministry. Edgar was an auror, Richard used to work in magical transportation, and Emily was on the Wizengamot.”

“All of them were in the Order, all five of them,” said Remus, “they may have been pure bloods, but they didn’t care about peoples blood.”

“Sounds like not much has changed then,” said Beth.

Sirius nodded.

“Edgar Bones in the mid-seventies fell in love with a muggle born girl Charlotte. They got married even though the war was starting off, they had three children Jane, Michael and Sarah. Jane would have been about the same age as Cedric, Michael would have been in the year above you, and Sarah was a few months older than Ginny.”

“It was bad enough that they were a pure blood family involved in the order,” said Remus, “but to marry a muggle, not even a muggle born in the middle of the war, was a death sentence on it’s own.”

“One night, on June 10th 1981, about four months before the end of the war, the Rosier brothers tracked down Edgar’s family and found where they had been living. They were lucky, they found not only Edgar and his wife and three children at home, but Richard and Emily were also there too visiting their new-born granddaughter.”

Susan was practically shaking with tears.

“They sent out the distress call to the Order, but by the time that Moody, Remus, James and I got there with the rest of the back up got there they were all dead. The Rosier brothers were preparing to dissaparate to where the rest of the Bones were living, Susan, her parents and aunt.”

“They knew the game was up,” sighed Remus, “there was three of them and eight of us. Rather than letting us take them into the ministry or trying to duel us they killed themselves.”

Susan was now shaking with tears, they didn’t usually talk about her uncle or her grandparents at home.

“But what about the people who actually did get trials?” asked Beth.

“There were quite a few trails,” explained Remus, “some of them said they were under the imperius curse, some were honest mistakes like Bagman.”

“But some of them,” seethed Sirius, “were pure evil.”

“What do you mean?” asked Beth.

“The person presiding over all these trials as judge was Barty Crouch Sr., the man you saw in the woods tonight.”

“The most famous trial,” explained Remus, “was more of a show trial, the court knew they were guilty, but the people wanted to see justice being done.”

“The biggest trial and one of the most important was for Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband Rabastan and his brother Rodolphus and Barty Crouch Jr.”

“Mr Crouch had a son?” gasped Beth.

“And he was a deatheater!” exclaimed Susan.

“Yes,” nodded Sirius defiantly, “and he was working with my cousin Bellatrix.”

“What did they get sent to Azkaban for?” asked Beth.

If this was the most important trial it must have been something pretty bad.

“The capture and torture of two of the greatest aurors I’ve ever known, and even greater friends,” said Sirius.

“Frank and Alice Longbottom,” finished Remus.

“What?” breathed Beth.

“Neville’s parents are dead because of Mr Crouch’s son and your cousin?” asked Susan.

“No,” said Sirius choking back tears, “it’s worse than that, so much worse. They’re not dead, they’re insane!”

“They tortured Frank and Alice until they lost their minds, trying to get information about Voldemort” explained Remus, “they probably would have killed them, but the aurors got there before they could.”

“They’re in the permanent ward in St. Mungos,” explained Sirius, “we keep meaning to visit, but we just can’t bear to see what state they’re in.”

“Remus, Sirius,” said Beth tears running down her face, “I promise, when we get back from holiday, we’ll go visit them, I’ll go with you.”

“You’ve got a plan kiddo,” said Sirius smiling slightly.

“So what are we going to do about this maze then?” asked Remus trying to draw the subject away from long gone friends and relatives.

“You should learn some good hexes and jinxes, loads of them,” said Sirius, “they could help you against monsters, and maybe even the odd Slytherin.”

“Siri,” growled Remus glaring at him.

“Sorry,” chuckled Sirius.

“If it’s a maze, the four points spell should help,” said Remus, “I’ll look up where to find it, it will help you know if you’re headed in the right direction.”

When Beth and Susan went to bed that night, Beth’s dreams were haunted by deatheaters who were torturing a young couple who looked an awful lot like Neville, and there was a woman’s maniacal cackles mixed in with the screams.


	30. Into the Maze

The next four weeks Beth spent trying to research hexes and jinxes for the last task.

The day after Beth’s call with Remus and Sirius Beth had finally shown Cedric the Room of Requirement.

“What are we doing up here?” asked Cedric.

“How is a room on the seventh floor in an abandoned corridor going to help us with the tournament?”

“Just go through that door,” said Beth beaming.

Cedric shrugged and went through the door followed by Beth, Susan, Justin and Ernie.

“Um, Beth I think this secret room is already occupied,” said Cedric awkwardly.

Tracy and Theo were making out on one of the sofas.

“Don’t be silly,” laughed Susan.

“Cedric, these are our friends Theo and Tracy, we meet up in here because the Slytherins don’t like Theo and Tracy hanging out with us.”

“So this is a secret room?” asked Cedric, “handy!”

“This isn’t just a secret room, it’s the room of requirement,” said Justin.

“Well whats that?” asked Cedric.

“What do you require Cedric.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just tell the room what you want,” said Beth.

“Well, I want to be able to practise hexes and jinxes I suppose.”

As Cedric said this, several dummies arrived for target practise to practise hexes and jinxes. The large table that they usually did their homework at suddenly filled with towers upon towers of books on hexes and jinxes.

“And you guys kept this a secret why?” exclaimed Cedric as he investigated a copy of a rare book on jinxes.

“Because, if we told people, we’d have to find somewhere else to go when we want to hang out with Theo and Tracy,” said Hermione as she arrived.

“Ah good books!” exclaimed Hermione diving headfirst into the books.

“Why can’t this room ever produce anything but yet more books,” groaned Ron.

“What about those things,” said Tracy indicating a dummy.

“Target practise!” beamed Ron getting his wand out eager to try them out, “excellent!”

Four weeks later and Beth was sat at the breakfast table going over a list of spells a mile long, which covered everything from stupefy, the four points spell, impedimenta, flipendo and relashio to titallindo the tickling hex.

The others had been doing exams for the last week, Beth had gotten out of exams.

“Beth, you already know all of those by heart,” said Ernie.

“Do you want me to survive whatever creatures Hagrid’s got in there? Rumour has it he’s still got a blast ended skrewt left!”

“Fair enough,” chuckled Justin.

“See you at lunch,” said Susan giving her a hug and a quick kiss.

Beth was frantically practising wand movements and checking them against the list when Cedric came over.

“You might want to put those away Beth,” chuckled Cedric.

“I can’t I’ve got nine hours left!”

“You haven’t even got enough time for your favourite Uncles?”

“Sirius!” yelled Beth dropping her wand and jumping up from the table.

Sirius practically threw her in the air hugging her and swinging around.

“Lilybeth!” exclaimed Sirius, “you beautiful, beautiful girl! You are so clever; it’ll all be over soon.”

“Put her down Siri,” chuckled Remus.

“What I’m not hurting her,” protested Sirius.

“Yes, but I want to hug my little girl too,” said Remus.

“Look how big you’ve gotten,” said Remus giving her a hug, “those robes have got to be three inches short on you.”

“Has our little girl hit five foot?” asked Sirius impressed.

“If I’m not mistaken,” said Remus, “that’s the only place she’s grown.”

Sirius and Remus looked at each other there eyes full of glee.

“I think we might need to take our not so little girl bra shopping!” grinned Sirius.

“No,” stammered Beth as Cedric couldn’t help himself but laugh, “no please no!”

“Leave her,” said Celia shaking her head and moving on from Cedric to give Beth a hug.

“You’re beautiful darling, we’re so proud of you.”

“Proud of both you,” said Amos, patting Cedric on the back.

“And don’t worry dear,” Celia whispered, “I’ll take you shopping might even be able to get one before the wedding.”

“Thanks,” beamed Beth.

“Is anyone else coming?” asked Cedric.

“Molly and Bill Weasley,” said Remus, “they’re chatting to Percy at the moment, and Tonks is coming after work.”

Viktor was talking away in rapid Bulgarian to his parents, Fleur was hugging and kissing her parents and Gabrielle.

Bill and Molly were heading over as Percy had to go invigilate some exams.

“Cedric you’ve got to stop growing,” said Bill, “you’re going to be taller than me!”

“Still the perfect build for a seeker though,” chuckled Bill.

“Beth dear,” beamed Molly giving her a hug, “are you alright? You ready for tonight?”

“More than,” chuckled Beth.

“Why don’t we give you guys the royal tour?” asked Cedric.

“Excuse me,” said Fleur running over, “if you are doing the tour can me and family join you? I want to do this wonderful castle the proper justice.”

“Of course Fleur,” beamed Beth giving Fleur a hug.

“These are my parents Madame and Monsieur Delacour, and my little sister Gabrielle.”

Gabrielle giggled and gave a curtsy, she didn’t speak English, but she knew her name.

“And these are my friends that I have told you all about, Cedric and Beth.”

“Cedric,” said Monsieur Delacour shaking Cedric’s hand, “you are a fine and handsome young man.”

“And you Beth,” said Monsieur Delacour kissing Beth’s hand, “are even more lovely than my daughter described.”

“Thank you,” blushed Beth.

“These are my Mum and Dad, Mr and Mrs Diggory.”

“And these are my Uncles, Remus and Sirius.”

“Sirius Black?” asked Madame Delacour.

“The very same,” beamed Sirius.

“We are very sorry for your great mistrial of justice,” said Monsieur Delacour.

Sirius merely shrugged.

Gabrielle pulled at Molly’s sleeve.

“Yes dear?” asked Molly.

“Est tu Beth’s maman?”

“Non Gabrielle,” said Fleur.

“I am sorry,” said Fleur.

“It’s ok,” beamed Beth, as Sirius and Remus put arms around her, “I’ve got all the family I’ll ever need.”

“Who are your other friends?” asked Fleur as they left the Great Hall.

“These are Bill and Molly Weasley,” said Remus.

“Weasley?” asked Fleur, “the names familiar.”

“Which one of my many siblings have been pestering you?” chuckled Bill.

“You have siblings?” asked Fleur looking at Bill with interest.

“I’m the eldest of seven, there’s me, Charlie, Percy who’s now the History of Magic professor, Fred, George, my twin brothers, Ron and my sister Ginny.”

“Ah Fred and George!” exclaimed Fleur, “that’s it!”

“One half of the mischievous boys who are friends with Cedric.”

“If you’d believe me Fleur,” chuckled Cedric, “up until six years I thought there could be nothing more mischievous than one pair of twins, but then Fred and George met Nick and Nigel and the world has never been the same since!”

They spent the morning looking around the castle and that afternoon the champions spent the afternoon with their families out by the lake. Viktor taught Victoire how to skim rocks over the water despite the language barrier. Bill told Fleur about all his exciting adventures in Egypt breaking curses and fighting ancient mummies. Beth spent the afternoon lying contentedly in the grass, listening to Sirius and Remus’ wedding plans, which was only a fortnight away.

“Our beautiful little girl is going to be our bridesmaid,” beamed Sirius.

“And then we’re off to Greece,” said Remus.

“Ah Greece is so beautiful,” said Celia.

“Next year, you will have to come to see us,” beamed Madame Delacour.

“We’ll have to wait and see,” chuckled Sirius.

After their last exams their friends came out to the lake to join them.

Hermione came running over to the lake to find Viktor.

“How was your exam?” asked Viktor, brushing a lock of hair off her face.

“Good, I answered all the questions, but I didn’t have as much time as I would liked for the essay question.”

“Hemione,” chuckled Ron, “if Percy had given you as much time as you liked, you would still be writing it this evening and you would have missed the final task!”

Viktor introduced Hermione to his parents who she was going to be visiting that Summer in August.

Just as everyone was beginning to enjoy themselves, Cedric looked at his watch.

“Here we go again,” muttered Cedric as he saw it was a quarter to six, and there were people heading down to the pitch.

“Come on guys,” sighed Cedric heaving himself off the grass.

Beth followed the other champions down to the pitch somewhat grudgingly.

The champions stood outside the maze with their familys. Beth was standing next to the Diggorys.

“Whatever happens in there, we’re proud of you alright?” said Remus giving her a hug.

“Look after yourself Lilybeth, it’s nearly over!”

Remus and Sirius moved onto Cedric and Amos and Celia came to wish Beth luck.

“Chin up,” said Amos with tears in his eyes, “you’ll do great, you’re in first place!”

“Thanks,” said Beth trying not to cry.

Celia looked at Beth, she was somehow so small, the closest thing she had ever had to a daughter.

“Be safe darling,” said Celia holding her close, “just make it out alive and I’ll be happy. I don’t care if you win or lose.”

“Look after each other kids,” said Amos.

“If you keep an eye out for each other you’ll be fine,” said Remus.

“You might even win this thing,” chuckled Sirius.

“Good luck son!” said Amos giving his son one last hug before the families left to go join the spectators in the stands.

“Our four champions have nearly finished their tournament,” called Bagman “Mr Diggory and Miss Potter are in first place, and shall enter the maze first, then Mr Krum five minutes later, and then Miss Delacour five minutes after that.”

“The first champion to find the cup in the centre of the maze wins the tournament.”

“You ready Beth?” asked Cedric getting out his wand.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” said Beth getting out her own wand.

The canon was fired for the first time, and Beth and Cedric took each other’s hands with the wand free hand and walked into the maze. 

The maze closed shut after them. They were alone.

They walked for about fifty yards before they reached the first turn.

“Which way?” asked Cedric looking to the left and right.

“Well lets try the spell,” said Beth.

“Point me!” 

The wand told her that North was to the right.

Cedric nodded and they walked down the right path. They hadn’t been attacked by anything yet. 

But then something came slithering from around the corner. A blast ended skrewt. It was the size of a baby elephant!

“Merlin’s bloody balls!” muttered Cedric holding his wand out nervously.

“Aim for underneath,” stammered Beth, “that avoids it armour!”

“Impedimanta!” yelled Cedric and Beth pointing at the belly.

The skrewt started to move in slow motion and Beth and Cedric sprinted away from it as fast as they could.

As Beth stopped for a breather, she felt a cold clammy feeling attack her.

“Dementor,” whimpered Beth pointing at the hooded figure.

“Expecto Patronum!” called Beth pointing her wand defiantly at the dementor.

The silver wolf cub sprung out of her wand.

The dementor didn’t glide away however, but tripped.

“It’s a boggart!” laughed Cedric.

“Imagine us being terrified of a boggart,” giggled Beth.

“Ridiculous!” shouted Cedric.

The boggart disappeared in a whisp of smoke.

“Well that’s been dealt with,” sighed Cedric in relief as they continued down the maze.

They took a few more turns and eventually ran into Viktor.

Viktor merley nodded to them and continued to walk.

“Whats wrong with him?” asked Cedric.

“He’s probably just nervous,” shrugged Beth.

They were starting to get towards the centre of the maze when Beth heard a loud scream.

“Fleur!” panicked Beth.

“Come on!” yelled Cedric as they ran towards where Fleur had screamed.

They were close to the centre as they came across Fleur’s body.

“Fleur!” exclaimed Beth checking her pulse.

“She’s alright,” said Beth. 

Cedric nodded and sent up red sparks.

“Come on, we still have to finish.”

They didn’t run into any other obstacles for a while but then they ran into Victor. He eyes were completely blank.

“Crucio!” called Viktor pointing his wand at Cedric.

“Ach!” screamed Cedric for a few seconds.

“What the fuck are you doing!” yelled Cedric as Beth looked confused.

“Crucio!” said Viktor again pointing his wand at Beth now.

“Stupefy!” yelled Cedric pointing his wand at Victor.

“He was under the imperious curse,” Beth explained as Cedric glowered at Victors unconscious body.

Cedric nodded and sent red sparks up again before they continued down the path.

“We’re the only ones left,” said Cedric in realisation.

They kept on walking and they eventually reached a giant loan with the head a beautiful woman, a sphinx. 

“Um hi,” said Beth, “can we pass please.”

“You are very near your goal. The quickest way is past me.”

“So could you move please?”

“No, you must first answer my riddle. If you answer correctly you may pass. If not I attack.”

“Let’s give it a go,” shrugged Beth.

“Where’s a ruddy Ravenclaw when you need one,” sighed Cedric.

“First think of the person who live in disguise,  
Who deals in secrets and tells naught by lies.  
Next tell me whats always the last thing to mend,  
The middle of middle and the end of end?  
And finally give the sound often heard  
During the search for a hard-to-find word.  
Now string them together and answer me this,  
Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?”

“Well there’s a puzzler,” said Cedric.

“We’ve got all the time we need Ced,” said Beth, “Victor and Fleur are already out of the running.”

They listened to the different parts of the riddle at least three times each.

“It’s a spider!” said Beth.

The sphinx nodded slowly and allowed them to pass.

Cedric and Beth beamed at each other and started to run towards the end of the maze where the cup shone.

But then a spider came crawling out from over a hedge. It wasn’t just a spider but an acromantula.

The acromantula sprung from off the hedge and knocked Cedric right over crushing both his legs.

“Stupefy!” cried Beth aiming her wand at the spider, “stupefy! Stupefy!!!”

The spider stopped moving.

“Come on Ced,” said Beth reaching to help him up.

“I can’t Beth,” struggled Cedric, “my legs, I think they’re broken.”

“You’ll have to go on without me!”

“No,” cried Beth tears running down her cheeks.

“Shoot up the red sparks,” said Cedric weakly through the pain, “they’ll come and find me, then you go and get the cup, and end this whole nightmare!”

“I can’t go on without you!” sobbed Beth.

“Go!” yelled Cedric.

Beth shot red sparks into the air over Cedric.

And ran to the cup tears still running down her cheeks. She reached for the cup and saw the shocked expression of Cedric as Beth spun away from view. The cup had been a portkey!


	31. A Rebirthing Party

Beth was exhausted, all she wanted to do now was get enveloped in one of Susan’s ever lasting hugs and get a goodnights sleep. But she wasn’t on the outside of the maze, she wasn’t at Hogwarts, she didn’t think she was even in Scotland anymore.

Beth got out her wand and lit it up. 

She looked around her, she seemed to be in an old muggle graveyard. Then her wand light caught on the name on a large gravestone.

TOM RIDDLE

Beth tried to look for a way out, but it was too late, Beth could hear footsteps approaching. There were two fairly squat people in robes with their hoods pulled up carrying what looked might be a baby in swaddling clothes.

Beth’s scar seared with pain as she looked at the bundle of robes being carried.

The next thing Beth knew her head nearly split open with the pain of the scar, it hurt so much she nearly fainted.

She felt a pair of strong arms grab her and she clammed up and started to shake as she was dragged over to Tom Riddle’s tombstone and tied to it.

Beth got a closer look at the man and realised she recognised him from the dream over the summer holidays, so this by Amycus Carrow that Sirius had told her about, his sister Alecto must be over by cauldron then.

Beth was tied to the tombstone and she had a gag stuffed into her mouth. Even she wanted to move she was tied to tightly she couldn’t, but Beth was so scared she was petrified.

Thank goodness she hadn’t brought Cedric with her, he’d probably be dead by now.

She could still see the Triwizard cup glinting far away in the distance, her escape route.

Beth watched in horror as the bundle as unwrapped to reveal something that wasn’t quite a baby which Alecto added to the cauldron. They took a bone of Tom Riddle Sr., Amycus added one of his fingers to the cauldron and then he approached her with the dagger a look of glee on his face.

Beth screamed in pain through the gag as he cut into her deeply with the dagger and added a few precious drops of her blood to the cauldron.

Beth hoped against hope frantically that it hadn’t worked and that he had drowned. But she knew deep down she was hoping in vain.

She closed her eyes and even tried praying. But all too soon there was a sputtering and cheering from the Carrow siblings.

Beth opened her eyes a fraction of an inch, he was back and very much alive.

“Robe me!” said the high cold voice.

It didn’t sound like the Tom from Beth’s nightmares, that had been a Tom from fifty years ago. 

A thin man with blood red eyes looked curiously at Beth after he had finished inspecting his new body. He was almost smiling at her; he had waited a long time for this. 

“Your arm,” said Voldemort simply looking over at Alecto.

“Yes master,” grunted Alecto producing the dark mark on her arm.

Voldemort held his wand to the dark mark and the deatheaters began to arrive.

Whislt he waited for the deatheaters to return, he replaced Amycus’s finger.

There seemed to be several dozen deatheaters, there were gaps but still nearly thirty of them had managed to escape Azkaban.

Voldemort went around the circle talking to each of the deatheaters in turn, but Beth’s stomach flipped when he reached Nott.

“I hear your son Theodore has quite a mind,” said Voldemort looking at Nott.

“Yes master,” nodded Nott.

“It’s a shame about your wife,” pondered Voldemort.

“Make sure that when it comes to it, your son knows which side is the right side.”

“Yes master,” nodded Nott as Voldemort moved along.

Once Voldemort finally reached the ned of addressing his deatheaters he came to Beth.

“And now for our guest of honour,” said Voldemort grinning manically, “Elizabeth Potter!”

“The last time me and young Elizabeth met, I could not touch her, but we share blood. I can touch you now!”

Voldemort pressed his finger to Beth’s scar, and she screamed out in pain. She just wanted to die, just let her die!

Beth was so tired and her scar was in much pain, she only heard flashed of what Voldemort was saying, but the next thing she knew she was being untied from the gravestone and thrown to the ground.

The deatheaters cackled as she tripped.

She got out her wand and stood back up breathlessly.

“You have been taught how to duel?”

“Yes,” muttered Beth.

“I’m sorry what was that?” chuckled Voldemort.

“Yes!” said Beth looking him in the eye defiantly.

“Ah you have courage I see, your parents had it too. Didn’t do them any good.”

“The partners bow to each other,” said Voldemort.

Beth stood rigidly still.

“So be it,” shrugged Voldemort casually.

“And now we duel!”

“Crucio!” called Voldemort.

Beth thought she had known pain before, but it was bursting through her body, she felt like she was going to explode from the pain.

“You don’t want me to do that again do you dear?” asked Voldemort softly.

Beth kept her mouth resolutely shut.

“Imperio!”

All Beth’s pain vanished into thin air.

Just say no whispered a soft voice.

Im not giving into you.

Just say no.

Im not doing it.

Just say no.

“Leave me alone!” yelled Beth sparks flying out of her wand.

“You want me to leave you alone?” asked Voldemort curiously.

“Well that’s easily done,” he smirked.

They both prepared their wands, Beth knew what was coming.

“Avada Kedavra!”

“Expeliarmus!” 

Two jets of light shot out of their wands, green from Voldemort’s , red from Beth’s. They met halfway between them and they both tried to push their beams of light towards each other. 

As Beth’s beam of light slowly reached towards Voldemort a cage was beginning to form, she was starting to win, but it was taking all her energy.

Voldemort looked confused, but then ghosts began to appear out of his wand and talk to Beth.

“So he really was a wizard then?” asked an old man, “you fight him girl!”

Then Bertha Jorkins appeared.

“Well done Beth, keep going your parents are coming.”

Bertha gave Beth advice on how to duel Voldemort as Lily Potter eventually appeared out of the wand.

“Beth, my little girl, we’re both so proud of you,” said lily with tears in her eyes, “your father’s coming, just hold on.”

“We love you Beth!” said James proudly “and we couldn’t be prouder, send our love to James and Remus.”

“You cant hold on much longer,” said Lily tearily, “when the connection breaks we can distract him but only for a few seconds.”

“Run for the portkey!” said James.

“Now!” called James as Beth felt the last of her energy drain away.

She dropped her wand and a fog seemed to fill the graveyard.

“Where is she?” screamed Voldemort, “somebody find the girl!”

Beth fumbled for cup and found it and clung on for dear life as she spun away from the Little Hangleton.


	32. Hes Back

Beth spun away from the graveyard and into the pitch black stadium where the whole school was awaiting her return.

She imagined she must have been quite a sight to see, robes torn, covered in blood, and shaking.

There were people screaming over her.

“Beth! Beth!!”

She could Susan on the edge of the crowd with Remus, Sirius was trying to push his way towards the front of the crowd.

Beth let go off the cup didn’t move a muscle and looked around terrified, worried that Voldemort or one of his deatheaters was going to appear from somewhere.

“It’s alright Potter,” grunted a soft vaguely familiar voice.

“Come on, you’ve had a shock, hospital wing.”

“Dumbledore,” muttered Beth, “Sirius, Remus.”

“Can find you there,” said Moody gripping Beth by the shoulders and directing her away from the crowd.

Beth was so tired that she didn’t say anything, she just wanted to go to bed.

“What happened?” asked Moody as they walked back to the school.

“Cup was a portkey,” muttered Beth, “took me to a graveyard. Voldemort, he’s back, I fought him.”

“You fought the dark lord?”

“Yeah,” muttered Beth.

Moody pulled her into his office and forced her into a chair.

“Drink,” said Moody passing her a cup.

Beth was too tired to even argue.

She drank the potion in one gulp. Her throat felt like it was burning slightly, but she was more awake.

“So Voldemort’s back?”

“Yeah,” nodded Beth, “he took my blood, he can touch me now.”

“And the deatheaters they returned they were forgiven?”

“Well yes,” said Beth.

“Wait theres a deatheater at Hogwarts!” exclaimed Beth trying to jump up.

“I know that,” said Moody smirking slightly, “because its me.”

“What?”

“I sent the dark mark into the sky, I put your name in the goblet, I put the imperius curse on Krum tonight.”

“You’re mad,” struggled Beth.

“Ha!” barked Moody, “I’d beg to differ.”

“But tonight, I’m going to give my master what he has wanted for thirteen years, your dead body!”

Moody raised his wand and pointed it straight between Beth’s eyes.

“Stupefy!” shouted several voices as the door burst open.

Beth whipped her head around and saw a fuming Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall and Sprout.

“Moody?” asked Snape confused.

“Not Moody,” said Dumbledore glaring, “Barty Crouch.”

“What?” asked Sprout.

“The younger.”

“We can find out about all that later Albus,” said McGonagall, “if you hadn’t noticed young Beth is half asleep.”

“Severus,” said Dumbledore trying to keep calm, “would you please take Barty who looks like Alistair to the classroom next door and watch over him for me?”

“Yes sir,” said Snape levitating the body, a look of downright loathing on his face.

“Beth dear,” said Sprout gently, “I know you’re tired. Cedric told us about the portkey, what happened next?”

“The graveyard,” said Beth quietly, “I was taken to a graveyard. The Carrows were there, and they resurrected Voldemort. They used my blood.”

“They what?” spat McGonagall unsure of what she’d heard.

“Can I have a look at your arm please dear?” asked Sprout.

Beth handed Sprout her arm.

Sprout looked at the deep cut and hissed softly.

“That must dear, it’s a deep cut, we’ll have Pomfrey have a look at that you for.”

“What happened then?” asked Dumbledore.

“He touched me; he can do that now. Then the deatheaters arrived, there were nearly thirty!”

“He can touch you?” asked Dumbledore impressed.

“Hmm,” nodded Beth.

“Then I had to duel him, he put me under the cruciatus curse.”

McGonagall’s eyebrows somehow rose even higher.

“Then we both cast our spells, I cast the disarming spell, and the two beams of light came flying out of our wands which met in the middle. My parents and Voldemort’s other victims came out of the wand.”

“Priori incantatum!” breathed Dumbledore.

“Dad told me grab the portkey whilst they distracted him, so I grabbed the cup and found myself back in the stadium.”

“Thank you, Beth,” said Dumbledore nodding.

“Pamona, if you would escort Beth to the Hospital Wing, we need to interview Mr Crouch.”

“Come now dear,” said Sprout gently, “Hospital Wing.”

“Remus,” mumbled Beth, “Sirius.”

“It’s alright, they’re waiting for you there.”

Professor Sprout helped Beth down to the Hospital Wing where a dozen people were waiting for her. Remus and Sirius, Amos, and Celia, Viktor, Hermione, Ron, Fleur, Molly, Bill Susan, Ernie, Justin and a very guilty looking Cedric.

“Beth!” exclaimed Remus as she came in through the door.

Remus rushed over to her and pulled her into his arms.

Beth burst into tears through part exhaustion and part relief.

“Oh Cariad, it’s alright, you’re alright now,” said Remus gently.

“Shh,” said Remus carrying her over to the bed, “it’s alright.”

“Calm down Lilybeth,” said Sirius cheerfully, “that nasty tournament’s over now, and you’re safe.”

“No I’m not!” sobbed Beth into Remus, “I’m not safe I’ll never be safe!”

A very guilty Cedric was standing at the end of her bed, he hadn’t stopped panicking since she had disappeared from the maze. His legs had taken about two seconds to fix, but Beth had disappeared to goodness knows where.

“What’s she talking about?” asked Amos looking over at Sprout confused.

“The portkey, it took her to a graveyard,” said Sprout slowly, “He Who Must Not Be Named is back.”

“Quoi?” asked Fleur confused.

“Lord Voldemort,” stammered Hermione as they all looked at each other in shock.

“This is all my fault!” yelled Cedric, “I should have gone with her!”

“I can’t believe I let her face him alone, if I’d gone with her she would have been fine, she would have been safe!”

“You would have been dead Cedric!” Beth sobbed, “he would have killed you as soon as look at you.”

Cedric shut his mouth very quickly and looked slightly foolish at his outburst, Beth was right.

“Voldemort’s back?” muttered Sirius hardly believing it.

“What happened Lilybeth?”

“Not now Sirius, the child’s exhausted,” said Molly.

Pomfrey came bustling over with a tray full of assorted potions.

“You can all see she’s fine, she just needs rest, get to bed the lot of you!”

There were great protests.

“Fine, but keep it down and let her sleep!”

Beth had stopped sobbing into Remus and Molly was get Beth comfortable in bed and tucking her in.

“Is Voldemort really back?” asked Remus.

“Hmm,” nodded Beth.

As Molly tucked Beth in, Susan sat down cross legged at the end of the bed with a book. Molly undid Beth’s hair and let it loose down her back.

“There you go dear, now drink up,” said Molly indicating the tray of potions.

Beth grimaced.

“Pain killers, sleeping draught, and blood replenishing,” said Pomfrey as she fixed Beth’s cut hand.

“Now drink.”

“You’ll feel better Cariad,” said Remus gently, “really.”

Beth downed the three potions and settled into bed.

She had only been asleep what felt like a few seconds however when she was woken up not by one of her friends but by Cornelius Fudge and Professor McGonagall.

“Minerva,” said Dumbledore, “I thought you were watching over Crouch?”

“Nothing to watch over, he’s not got a soul!” screamed McGonagall.

“This buffon brought a dementor for protection which sucked out Crouch’s soul.”

“It sounds like he was mad in the first place!” yelled Fudge.

“He wasn’t mad, but he did have evidence,” said Dumbledore.

Fudge shook his head in exasperation and left a huge bag of gold on Beth’s bedside table before leaving.

Dumbledore made sure that Fudge was safely gone.

“Molly, I want you to go home to Arthur, tell him what’s happened, Remus, Sirius, I know you’re busy for the next few weeks, but I need you both to go and round up the old crowd.”

“We’ll help,” said Amos as he and Celia nodded.

“What’s going on?” asked Ron excitedly.

“We’re reforming the order,” beamed Sirius.

“Ha!” yelled Hermione as she cupped something on the windowsill.

“What?” asked Viktor confused.

“Nothing,” said Hermione casually sealing the glass shut and placing it in her bag.

“I’ve got to go little one,” said Remus gently, “it’s only for a week.”

“But before I go, drink the rest of that potion!”

“Yes Uncle Remus,” sighed Beth taking the last of her sleeping potion and dropping off.

Beth fell asleep instantly. The next morning Beth was released from the Hospital Wing, she spent most of the next week in the Room of Requirement, away from staring eyes.

But on the second to last day of term, Beth held a secret meeting in a disused classroom.

“You think we’ve got the right room?” asked Fred poking his head round.

Fred, George, Nick and Nigel’s heads all appeared around the door.

“Come in you idiots and shut the door,” hissed Beth.

“Hail the TriWizard champion!” exclaimed Fred and George bowing to her.

“Lord and ruler of all!” said Nick and Nigel.

“Leave off or there’s no deal,” said Beth.

“What deal?” asked Nick suspiciously.

“This one,” said Beth heaving the heavy the bag bursting full of galleons onto the desk.

“I don’t want nor need the money,” said Beth simply, “whereas I presume you four need some start-up funds?”

“Holy mother of god!” said Nick.

“That’s got to be a thousand galleons!” said Fred.

“I don’t need it, if you don’t take it, im going to donate it all to SPEW.”

“Don’t you dare!” said Fred quickly.

“What do you want in return?” asked George.

“Maybe make some sweets that aren’t trick sweets?”

“You’ve got a deal,” said Nick.

Beth shook hands with the four twins.

“The Manic Marauders are now in business,” beamed Fred.

“Thank you Beth!” they all said in unison.

The train ride home it was if the last week had never happened. Beth shared a compartment with Susan, Justin, Ernie, Theo and Tracy and Beth spent half the journey talking about the coming wedding next week. Voldemort might be back, but Beth’s life was going to go on as normally as it possibly could.

The only person who didnt seem excited about going home was Theo. He now knew that his father was definatley a deatheater. Beth gave him a piece of paper that Sirius had sent the other day for emergencies. 

"If you get any trouble at home just come to this address, there'll always be someone there. Just use the code phrase and tap it with your wand."

"I solemnly swear that i'm not a deatheater," chuckled Theo


End file.
